Archive Website of the UK government

How your council is funded

Your council is funded by a combination of grants from central government, Council Tax and business rates. You can read 'Local government powers and finance' to find out more about where money for your council comes from.

• Local government powers and finance (government, citizens and rights section)

See what your council spends

Councils are encouraged to share details on spending with an aim to be more open with residents and to save money. Many councils now provide information on their website to show residents how they spend their budget.

Get details on council payments and contracts worth more than £500

You can access council spending reports on your council website which lets you see payments (‘expenditure’) for goods and services over £500.

You can also see the details of contracts and tenders worth more than £500. This will allow community organisations and small businesses to pitch for contracts more easily and propose new ideas for how services should be delivered.

• See monthly spending reports on your council website Opens new window

• Get details on contracts and tenders from your council website Opens new window

Your right to inspect your council’s detailed annual accounts

You also have the right to inspect your council’s detailed financial accounts - and all the books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers and receipts relating to them. Every year councils are required to open their accounting records for 20 working days for public inspection and challenge. These rights allow you to check any spending under the £500 threshold without having to submit a Freedom of Information Act request.

Your council has to make clear on its website and in the local press when these accounts can be checked by the public.

To find out when you can check your council’s accounts choose from the options below, enter your details and click 'Go'. This service is only available in England.

• Find out when you can check your council's accounts Opens new window

Get details on senior salaries and councillor expenses

You may be able to get details of councillor allowances and expenses on your council website. You can also find out who holds senior positions in your council and what their salaries and job descriptions are.

• Get senior salary details from your council website Opens new window

• Get councillor allowance and expenses details from your council website Opens new window

Personal details that have been removed from spending information

You may see that certain personal information has been ‘redacted’ from spending reports. This means that specific details have been removed, for example, to protect personal information such as names and addresses.

• Data protection and identity theft (government, citizens and rights section)

If your council doesn't publish spending information

If your council website doesn’t have spending information available, you can contact your council to request that they put this type of information on their website.

• Visit your local council website Opens new window

Government transparency - what it is

Government transparency aims to increase openness by sharing more government information with citizens. Government departments and their agencies are increasingly publishing the information they have.

You will be able to see things like how your money is spent by government departments and their agencies, which companies have contracts with the government, and how public services perform.

You can also get data sets - information presented in tables - from the data.gov.uk website.

• How your money is spent - Number 10 website Opens new window

• Get spending details for your council Opens new window

• data.gov.uk website Opens new window

More useful links

• Visit the online transparency database - Number 10 website Opens new window