The technical annex on the resources adjustment published at the final Local Government Finance Settlement 2026-27 sets out how the band D equivalent council tax base is calculated (Technical annex on the Resources Adjustment (measure of tax base) - GOV.UK). The technical annex publishes authority-level Band D equivalent tax base figures used in the modelling of the resource adjustment.

The notional council tax used in this adjustment is set at the average level of Council Tax in England. This includes the social care precept and the fire precept but does not include police or parish precepts. Mayoral precepts are not included, except for the fire element.

In response to UIN 20355, the department does not make such a comparison.

Core Spending Power table: provisional is not an official statistic. This publication is part of the Local Government Finance Settlement collection to provide a measure of the resources available to local authorities to fund service delivery and aid interpretation of the associated statutory reports. This publication is superseded by Core Spending Power table: final local government finance settlement 2026-27 to 2028-29 (Final Local Government Finance Settlement: England, 2026-2027 to 2028-2029 - GOV.UK).

On 28 October 2025, the Government announced its commitment to repay £500m of Woking Borough Council’s debt in 2026-27 ahead of the implementation of Local Government Reorganisation in Surrey (Written statement). This decision followed assurance over the council’s financial position, the council’s commitment to manage and to reduce debt locally within their capacity, and consideration of overall Value for Money for local and national taxpayers.

Subsequently, the Government has worked closely with the Council and its Commissioners to agree the details and timing of the loan repayments process. The first two payments towards Woking’s loans held with the Public Works Loan Board were made on the 1^st and 3^rd September 2026. This process will continue until the end of this financial year in March 2027, fulfilling the Government’s commitment.

As set out in the Prime Minister's recent Machinery of Government Statement, No. 10 North will work in close partnership with local leaders, businesses, and communities to deliver good growth in every postcode, with places able to set their own ambitions and integrate services to meet people’s needs. Our Devolution White Paper in the autumn will set out the details of our plans for the full set of reforms and a clear timetable for their implementation.

The government has already made good on long overdue promises to fundamentally update the way we fund local authorities, delivering the first multi-year settlement in a decade worth £78 billion in 2026-27. We are delivering fairer funding, targeting money where it is needed most. By 2028-29, this government will have made available a 24.3% increase in Core Spending Power, worth an additional £16.6 billion since coming into power in 2024-25.

As set out in the answer given to Question UIN 15748 on 13 July 2026, the estimate made by the government assumes a 3% core principle, a 2% adult social care precept and a £150 increase in Band D council tax.

It is the responsibility of councils to manage their budgets, and it is standard for councils to borrow and to hold debt. Local authorities provide the Government with data on their borrowing, including source of borrowing. The data can be found at Live tables on local government finance - GOV.UK.

On 28 October 2025, we announced our unprecedented commitment to repay in-principle £500 million of Woking Borough Council’s debt in 2026-27, and we have now started this process. This commitment reflects that the council holds significant unsupported debt due to historic capital practices, and the value for money case for acting to protect taxpayers from the increasing cost of debt. This is a first tranche of debt repayment support, and we will continue to explore what further debt support is required at a later point. Any support must take account of value of money for local and national taxpayers.

We have committed to provide interim financial support to the new council until a final decision is made, and any support must take account of value for money. The Department continues to work closely with West Surrey shadow authority. On 15 July 2026, my predecessor Minister McGovern asked a new single Commissioner team across Woking and Spelthorne to work with the new councils to provide advice, challenge, and independent assurance and I encourage the shadow authority to work closely with the Commissioner team.

It is the responsibility of councils to manage their budgets, and it is standard for councils to borrow and to hold debt. Local authorities provide the Government with data on their borrowing, including source of borrowing. The data can be found at Live tables on local government finance - GOV.UK.

On 28 October 2025, we announced our unprecedented commitment to repay in-principle £500 million of Woking Borough Council’s debt in 2026-27, and we have now started this process. This commitment reflects that the council holds significant unsupported debt due to historic capital practices, and the value for money case for acting to protect taxpayers from the increasing cost of debt. This is a first tranche of debt repayment support, and we will continue to explore what further debt support is required at a later point. Any support must take account of value of money for local and national taxpayers.

We have committed to provide interim financial support to the new council until a final decision is made, and any support must take account of value for money. The Department continues to work closely with West Surrey shadow authority. On 15 July 2026, my predecessor Minister McGovern asked a new single Commissioner team across Woking and Spelthorne to work with the new councils to provide advice, challenge, and independent assurance and I encourage the shadow authority to work closely with the Commissioner team.

The Department regularly engages with local authorities and sector representatives on local government finance matters, including through the Local Government Finance Settlement and Fair Funding Review consultation process, and carefully considers the views provided. The Department does not routinely comment on discussions with individual stakeholders.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) provides funding for Investment Funds (IF), Mayoral Capacity Funding (MCF) and Spatial Development Strategies (SDS) for the Devolved Priority Programme areas. For Cumbria and Cheshire & Warrington areas who have elections in 2027, they will receive a combined total of £23.5 million prior to the Mayor taking post. For Hampshire & Solent, Sussex & Brighton, Greater Essex and Norfolk & Suffolk areas with elections in 2028, they will receive a combined total of £149.6 million.

Funding is conditional on the establishment of the Strategic Authority itself. Therefore, for this year's funding Cumbria, Cheshire & Warrington, Hampshire & Solent, and Sussex & Brighton were paid in June, whilst the remaining two areas will be paid if their institution is established.

Beyond the funds listed above, places will receive further funding for areas such as transport and adult skills ahead of Mayors taking office. Information regarding transport and adult skills will be held by those government departments. They are responsible for determining the value of those grants, and when the DPP areas are eligible to access those funds.

In most instances, the government’s intention is for funding to be given to the Strategic Authority itself. SDS funding will be paid to constituent local authorities.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 121214 on 24 March 2026. Details on how funding allocations were calculated, including datasets and sources, were published as part of the final Local Government Settlement on 9 February 2026. The time period for each of the published datasets is set out in the technical methodology notes available at gov.uk here.

I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 90719 answered on 24 November 2025.

Local authorities are not required to submit requests to Government for use of the Flexible Use of Capital Receipts general direction as use of this flexibility is a local decision. Local authorities remain responsible for appropriately complying with the direction and associated guidance, and ensuring their decisions are in the best interests of local residents.

Where business rate reliefs are implemented under section 47 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, such as the Pubs and Live Music Venues Relief Scheme, Business Rate Supplements are adjusted to reflect the percentage relief provided by those schemes in line with the requirements of section 13(7) of the Business Rate Supplements Act 2009. This is a mandatory requirement under the Act.

It is for the 33 London billing authorities and the Greater London Authority to ensure that the required determinations and resulting adjustments are made to ratepayer bills in respect of Business Rates Supplements liabilities.

Through the Fair Funding Review 2.0 the government has delivered on its commitment to a fairer, evidence-based system that targets funding towards areas with high deprivation and need.

We know deprivation is a factor that drives the level of spending on children’s social care services, as well as for many non-social care services. However, the use of deprivation data within our formulas does not solely determine whether an authority’s funding will increase or reduce. We also recognise the different drivers of demand for services, the cost of providing them in different places and differing ability to raise council tax.

The Government understands the importance of long-term financial planning and has delivered the first multi-year Settlement in a decade. Between now and the end of the multi-year Settlement, there will be another Spending Review which will determine arrangements for 2029-30 and beyond.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer given to UIN 123196 on 1 April 2026.

Core Spending Power for local authorities in England is set out in published data here, which includes the change in core spending power over the multi-year settlement period.

The final 2026-27 Local Government Finance Settlement makes available £78 billion in Core Spending Power for local authorities in England in 2026-27, a 6.1% increase compared to 2025-26.

The vast majority of councils with social care responsibilities will see their Core Spending Power increase in real terms over the multi-year Settlement. As a result of the fair funding review reforms, nine in ten councils will receive funding that broadly matches their assessed need by the end of the multi-year Settlement, up from around a third before our reforms.

Revenue raised through the HVCTS will be used to support funding for local government services, with further detail to be set out at the next Spending Review.

In response to the provisional Local Government Finance consultation, the final Settlement included an update to how pooling gains are estimated for transitional funding arrangements. This decision was the right approach in order to distribute gains more equitably, improving how representative the assumption is of local arrangements.

To help local authorities adjust for this, the government provided a one-off Adjustment Support Grant in 2026-27 to authorities who would otherwise see their Core Spending Power reduce in 2026-27, compared to indicative provisional Settlement allocations. In total, £116.1 million was made available through this grant to support the change of approach. Details of individual allocations are published on gov.uk here.

The 2027-28 and 2028-29 Settlements will be subject to consultation as is the usual process.

The department will publish the cost of compensating local authorities for the relief as part of the 2026-27 NNDR3 outturn data reconciliation, following the end of the 2026-27 financial year.

Local authorities will be fully compensated for the loss of income associated with granting the pubs and live music venues relief they award against the main business rates liability.

The Greater London Authority is not reimbursed for the lost revenue arising from government funded discretionary reliefs awarded under section 47 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, such as the 15% Pubs and Live Music Venues Relief, when this relief is applied to a Business Rates Supplement (BRS). While these reliefs are applied on a parallel basis to reliefs on Non-Domestic Rates, the Greater London Authority bears the entire cost in respect of the resulting reduction in BRS revenues.

Business Improvement District (BID) levies are established under separate legislation from the business rates system and are payable in addition to non-domestic rates.

Business rates reliefs granted under section 47 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, such as the Pubs and Live Music Venues Relief, apply only to a ratepayer’s liability for non-domestic rates and do not apply to BID levies. These reliefs therefore reduce a ratepayer’s liability to non-domestic rates only. Individual BIDs may allow for a reduction in a levy in line with their own schemes but this is a matter for individual BIDs to determine.

Where a billing authority grants discretionary business rates reliefs (including reliefs under section 47 of the 1988 Act), the authority is compensated for the resulting loss of non-domestic rates income via grant paid under section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003. This compensation relates solely to reductions in non-domestic rates liability and does not extend to BID levies. Accordingly, there is no provision for central reimbursement in respect of BID levy amounts.

Within the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) measure, three domains from seven incorporate measures of welfare or benefit take-up. The Income Deprivation Domain carries a weight of 22.5% and the Employment Deprivation Domain carries a weight of 22.5%. The Comparative Illness and Disability Ratio, which is drawn from similar sources, has a weighting of 0.294 in the overall Health Deprivation and Disability Domain, which contributes 13.5% to the IMD.