Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics 2013-14
Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics is an annual publication that provides a comprehensive overview of Scottish Local Authority financial activity. The publication covers Local Authority income, revenue and capital expenditure, outstanding debt, local taxation and Local Authority pensions.
3. Local Government Reserves, Fixed Assets and Debt
3.1 Reserves
Revenue reserves reflect an accumulation of surplus income. These are used to finance future spending on services. The surplus or deficit on the provision of service is laid out in Table 1.1; in order to be consistent with that table income is shown as negative and expenditure as positive in the following tables. Road Bridges are included in the General Fund values.
On 1 April 2013 local authorities had total revenue reserves of £1.784 billion. Over the course of the year total reserves decreased by £1.5 million (less than 0.1%) to £1.783 billion on 31 March 2014. Capital reserves fell by £9.7 million (1.7%), from £0.569 billion to £0.559 billion.
Table 3.1 - Movements in Reserves by Account, 2013-14
| £thousands | ||||||
| Revenue Reserves | Total Revenue Reserves | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Fund | Housing Revenue Account | Renewal and Repairs | Insurance Fund | Other Statutory Funds | ||
| Level of Reserves held 1 April 2013 | -1,099,062 | -116,117 | -190,828 | -79,442 | -298,872 | -1,784,321 |
| Surplus or Deficit on provision of services | 637,793 | 195,562 | 833,355 | |||
| Statutory Adjustments | -575,189 | -203,374 | -778,563 | |||
| Total Statutory Adjustments | 62,604 | -7,812 | 54,792 | |||
| Movement between Accounts | -56,101 | 6,417 | 11,135 | -4,561 | 5,178 | -37,932 |
| Capital receipts for the year | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Capital Expenditure funded from Reserves | 0 | -1,148 | 8,560 | 0 | 0 | 7,412 |
| Other Movements in Reserves | 4,025 | 581 | 7,351 | 1,358 | -36,124 | -22,809 |
| Movement in Reserves | -52,076 | 5,850 | 27,046 | -3,203 | -30,946 | -53,329 |
| Level of Reserves held 31 March 2014 | -1,088,534 | -118,079 | -163,782 | -82,645 | -329,818 | -1,782,858 |
Source: Local Financial Returns (LFR 23)
| £thousands | ||||
| Capital Reserves | Total Capital Reserves | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Fund | Capital Receipts | Capital Grants Unapplied | ||
| Level of Reserves held 1 April 2013 | -449,885 | -56,716 | -62,520 | -569,121 |
| Surplus or Deficit on provision of services | ||||
| Statutory Adjustments | -33,581 | -33,581 | ||
| Total Statutory Adjustments | -33,581 | -33,581 | ||
| Movement between Accounts | -6,583 | 44,357 | 0 | 37,774 |
| Capital receipts for the year | -48,486 | -74,004 | 0 | -122,490 |
| Capital Expenditure funded from Reserves | 28,932 | 52,761 | 10,637 | 92,330 |
| Other Movements in Reserves | 32,483 | 3,147 | 0 | 35,630 |
| Movement in Reserves | 6,346 | 26,261 | 10,637 | 43,244 |
| Level of Reserves held 31 March 2014 | -443,539 | -30,455 | -85,464 | -559,458 |
Source: Local Financial Returns (LFR 23)
3.2 Fixed Assets
Capital Expenditure creates local authority assets. The value of Local Authority fixed assets is shown in Table 3.2 below.
Table 3.2 - Value of Fixed Assets, 2010 to 2014
| £ thousands | |||||
| Value of fixed assets as at 31 March 2010 | Value of fixed assets as at 31 March 2011 | Value of fixed assets as at 31 March 2012a | Value of fixed assets as at 31 March 2013 | Value of fixed assets as at 31 March 2014 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operational Assets | |||||
| Council dwellings | 9,140,999 | 9,780,140 | 9,475,119 | 10,450,805 | 10,839,706 |
| Other land and buildings | 18,182,691 | 19,132,148 | 18,955,480 | 18,978,739 | 18,276,923 |
| Vehicles, plant and machinery | 769,104 | 928,814 | 937,152 | 1,022,046 | 1,003,162 |
| Infrastructure assets | 3,941,374 | 4,335,085 | 4,432,109 | 4,751,596 | 4,987,041 |
| Community assets | 172,117 | 177,755 | 165,502 | 168,819 | 161,728 |
| Heritage assets2 | 417,174 | 1,804,230 | 1,803,074 | ||
| Total operational assets | 32,206,285 | 34,353,942 | 34,382,536 | 37,176,235 | 37,071,634 |
| Non-operational assets | |||||
| Assets under construction | 983,249 | 1,275,873 | 1,456,501 | 1,271,111 | 1,200,830 |
| Surplus assets held for disposal | 583,577 | 492,701 | 397,053 | 377,632 | 365,120 |
| Investment properties | 702,732 | 209,196 | 205,613 | 205,220 | 197,445 |
| Total non-operational assets | 2,269,558 | 1,977,770 | 2,059,167 | 1,853,963 | 1,763,395 |
| Intangible Assets | 42,756 | 18,052 | 77,184 | 19,747 | 23,913 |
| Total Assets excluding Police & Fire | 33,663,509 | 35,560,848 | 36,299,949 | 38,214,124 | 38,858,942 |
| Total Assets | 34,518,599 | 36,349,764 | 37,168,112 | 39,049,945 | 38,858,942 |
a. Total Assets for 2011-12 includes £649,225 thousand for South Ayrshire Council that couldn't be broken down into the above categories.
2. Heritage assets was collected as a category from 2012-13 onwards.
Source: Capital Returns (CR Final)
3.3 Debt
The result of borrowing to finance capital expenditure gives rise to a liability to repay the debt. The levels of outstanding debt are shown in Table 3.3.
Total Loans fund debt at 31st March 2014 was £12.95 billion (of which £9.93 billion was General Fund debt and £3.02 billion was HRA debt). General Fund loans fund debt decreased by £5.4 million (0.1%) in 2013-14 against an overall increase of £1.23 billion (14.2%) since 31st March 2010. HRA loans fund debt rose by £183 million (6.5%) in 2013-14 against an overall increase of £807 million (36.5%) since 31st March 2010.
At 31st March 2013, the Scottish average General Fund loans fund debt was equal to £1,865 per person and the average HRA loans fund debt was equal to £9,533 per HRA dwelling.
Table 3.3 - General Fund and HRA Loans Fund Debt, 2009-10 to 2013-14
| £ thousands | |||||
| 31st March 2010 | 31st March 2011 | 31st March 2012 | 31st March 2013 | 31st March 2014 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Fund | |||||
| Total Debt (£ thousands) | 8,701,375 | 9,107,360 | 9,513,353 | 9,939,022 | 9,933,613 |
| Per Head (£) | 1,675 | 1,744 | 1,810 | 1,870 | 1,865 |
| Housing Revenue Account | |||||
| Total Debt (£ thousands) | 2,209,731 | 2,383,441 | 2,621,205 | 2,833,400 | 3,016,569 |
| Per HRA dwelling (£) | 6,896 | 7,502 | 8,284 | 8,973 | 9,533 |
| Total Debt | 10,911,106 | 11,490,801 | 12,134,558 | 12,772,422 | 12,950,182 |
Source: Capital Returns (CR Final), Housing Revenue Account: Local authority housing income and expenditure, NRS Mid-Year Population Estimates (2013)
Table 3.4 - Outstanding Loans Fund Debt for each Local Authority, 2013-14
| General Fund Services | Housing Revenue Account | Total All Debt (£000s) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Debt (£000s) | Per Head (£) | Total Debt (£000s) | Per HRA dwelling (£) | ||
| Scotland | 9,933,613 | 1,865 | 3,016,569 | 9,533 | 12,950,182 |
| Aberdeen City | 432,069 | 1,902 | 196,665 | 8,686 | 628,734 |
| Aberdeenshire | 386,007 | 1,498 | 133,128 | 10,302 | 519,135 |
| Angus | 124,428 | 1,070 | 36,425 | 4,680 | 160,853 |
| Argyll & Bute 1 | 181,924 | 2,066 | 0 | 0 | 181,924 |
| Clackmannanshire | 88,089 | 1,718 | 30,762 | 6,263 | 118,851 |
| Dumfries & Galloway 1 | 258,141 | 1,718 | 0 | 0 | 258,141 |
| Dundee City | 302,807 | 2,044 | 181,041 | 14,200 | 483,848 |
| East Ayrshire | 225,882 | 1,845 | 80,143 | 6,252 | 306,025 |
| East Dunbartonshire | 136,534 | 1,290 | 26,114 | 7,362 | 162,648 |
| East Lothian | 221,616 | 2,186 | 135,914 | 16,171 | 357,530 |
| East Renfrewshire | 84,772 | 926 | 27,675 | 9,167 | 112,447 |
| Edinburgh, City of | 1,150,256 | 2,359 | 369,359 | 18,629 | 1,519,615 |
| Eilean Siar 1 | 154,627 | 5,643 | 0 | 0 | 154,627 |
| Falkirk | 173,206 | 1,102 | 95,419 | 5,876 | 268,625 |
| Fife | 624,347 | 1,702 | 192,839 | 6,412 | 817,186 |
| Glasgow City 1 | 1,605,995 | 2,692 | 0 | 0 | 1,605,995 |
| Highland | 536,991 | 2,305 | 184,841 | 13,656 | 721,832 |
| Inverclyde 1 | 232,008 | 2,889 | 0 | 0 | 232,008 |
| Midlothian | 107,675 | 1,271 | 145,546 | 21,137 | 253,221 |
| Moray | 134,142 | 1,422 | 60,096 | 10,124 | 194,238 |
| North Ayrshire | 155,585 | 1,136 | 108,088 | 8,233 | 263,673 |
| North Lanarkshire | 534,737 | 1,583 | 191,408 | 5,180 | 726,145 |
| Orkney Islands | 23,136 | 1,073 | 13,404 | 15,232 | 36,540 |
| Perth & Kinross | 200,239 | 1,355 | 54,158 | 7,342 | 254,397 |
| Renfrewshire | 139,901 | 804 | 143,181 | 11,407 | 283,082 |
| Scottish Borders 1 | 193,842 | 1,702 | 0 | 0 | 193,842 |
| Shetland Islands | 12,079 | 521 | 16,130 | 9,180 | 28,209 |
| South Ayrshire | 120,467 | 1,067 | 59,347 | 7,361 | 179,814 |
| South Lanarkshire | 774,975 | 2,461 | 206,722 | 8,154 | 981,697 |
| Stirling | 139,843 | 1,532 | 37,389 | 6,765 | 177,232 |
| West Dunbartonshire | 110,170 | 1,227 | 142,062 | 13,345 | 252,232 |
| West Lothian | 367,123 | 2,084 | 148,713 | 11,531 | 515,836 |
1. These councils have transferred their housing stock to Registered Social Landlords
Source: Capital Returns (CR Final), Housing Revenue Account: Local authority housing income and expenditure, NRS Mid-Year Population Estimates
Contact
Email: Euan Smith
There is a problem
Thanks for your feedback