Government spending in the United Kingdom

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Pie chart of UK central government expenditure, 2009-10. Debt interest is shown in purple. Social protection includes Pensions and Welfare.

Central government spending in the United Kingdom, also called public expenditure, is the responsibility of the UK government, the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive. In the financial year 2015-16, total government spending was £772 billion.[1]

Spending per head is significantly higher in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland than it is in England.[2] In the case of Scotland, however, although public spending is greater than the United Kingdom average, this is because Scotland has historically produced more tax than people in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, although following a decline in the oil price in 2014, Scotland produced slightly less revenue than England per capita in 2014-15.[3][4] As of 2014 and the release of the GERS report, Scotland was in relative deficit compared to the rest of the UK and received a net subsidy from the UK government, this deficit was attributed to declining oil revenues. This condition is predicted to only get worse as oil revenues fall further.[5][6]

Department 2015-16 Expenditure (£bn)[1]
Social protection 240
Health 145
Education 102
Debt interest 39
Defence 46
Public order and safety 34
Personal social services 30
Housing and Environment 34
Transport 29
Industry, agriculture and employment 24
Other 49
Total Government spending 772

The graph shows spending by sector with prices adjusted for inflation. The Other Expenditure includes general public services (£22B in 2013/14), Housing and community amenities (£12B), Environment protection (£12B), Recreation, culture and religion (£12B). Accounting adjustments of £46 in 2013/14 have not been included. The spikes in 'Economic Affairs' and 'Debt Interest' were due to the financial sector interventions in the banking collapse of 2008.[7]

Local government spending

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Further information: Local government in the United Kingdom

Local government spending is the responsibility of local authorities, under the supervision of the respective national governments:

Spending by subnational authorities amounted to 26% of total public expenditure in 2010.[8]

See also

International:

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  6. ↑ http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0047/00472877.pdf#page=8
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ http://www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/#ukgs302a
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