Financial Statistics: Government Grants

Abstract

A major source of the annual income of local authorities in Great Britain is the set of grants and subsidies distributed to them by central government. Perhaps the easiest way to grasp the nature and nomenclature of these grants is to begin with a consideration of the way they are set down, at Great Britain aggregate level, in volume II of the Annual White Paper The Governments’ Expenditure Plans [QRL.27] and at England, Wales and Scotland levels in respectively, Rate Support Grant Report (England) [QRL.60], Rate Support Grant (Wales) [QRL.61] and Report on Rate Support Grant (Scotland) Order [QRL.72]. See also Guide to Local Authority Finance [B.23]. In these publications, Aggregate Exchequer Grant (Aggregate Exchequer Assistance in Scotland) is identified. These are (almost) the total amounts which central government intends to disburse to authorities in Great Britain in the course of the following financial year; the grants not included are dealt with in paragraph 6.1.2. These aggregates, which are subject to modification in Supplementary Reports are subdivided in [QRL.60], [QRL.61] and [QRL.72] into their various “regional” components. In the case of England and Wales these are: (a) Specific and Supplementary Grants; (b) Rate Support Grant (further subdivided into block grant and domestic rate relief grant). As to Scotland, the components are: (a) Specific Grants and (b) Rate Support Grant (further subdivided into domestic, resources and needs elements).