# Council reserves and resilience in England

How much financial cushion English councils have left, from the official MHCLG finance returns. Across England, councils drew down their usable reserves again in 2024 to 2025, even as council tax rose by 5 per cent and core spending power rose by about 7 per cent. This page shows which councils are most stretched, which are running their savings down fastest, what a Band D bill now costs, and where council tax is hardest to collect.

Source page: https://britishresilienceindex.com/deep-dive/council-reserves
Machine readable data: https://britishresilienceindex.com/data/deep-dive/council-reserves.json

## How to read this

These are the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government local authority finance returns for England. Usable, non ring fenced reserves are the money a council can draw on freely, excluding schools and other ring fenced funds. A low level of reserves relative to spending leaves little room to absorb a shock. Core spending power is the government's measure of what a council is allowed to spend; it is not the same as need.

## Savings drawn down again, even as bills rise

English councils held about 30.4 billion pounds of usable, non ring fenced reserves at the end of March 2025, down about 352 million pounds, or 1.1 per cent, over the year. That is despite the average Band D council tax for 2025 to 2026 rising 5 per cent to 2,280 pounds and core spending power rising about 7 per cent to 69.4 billion pounds. Rising income has not stopped the sector running its savings down, and a number of councils now hold very little cushion at all.

- **Reserves bn**: 30.4
- **Reserves change**: 352
- **Band d**: 2,280
- **Csp**: 69.4

## The thinnest cushions, and the fastest drawdowns

The most stretched councils now hold only a sliver of usable reserves against what they spend. Plymouth UA ended the year with reserves worth -0.5 per cent of its spending, having gone into deficit, and several others sit close to zero. Separately, some councils ran their reserves down sharply in a single year, led by Hillingdon, down 84.9 per cent.

**Most stretched**

| name | ratio |
|---|---|
| Plymouth UA | -0.5 |
| Oxford | 0 |
| Hillingdon | 0.7 |
| Shropshire UA | 3.5 |
| West Berkshire UA | 3.5 |
| Cheshire East UA | 3.8 |
| Gloucester | 4.1 |
| Sefton | 4.4 |

**Biggest drawdown**

| name | pct | aprM | marM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hillingdon | -84.9 | 29 | 4 |
| South Tyneside | -43.7 | 40 | 23 |
| Peterborough UA | -43.3 | 41 | 23 |
| Shropshire UA | -38.1 | 33 | 20 |
| Sefton | -36.3 | 49 | 31 |
| Central Bedfordshire UA | -33.8 | 62 | 41 |
| Wakefield | -31.4 | 98 | 67 |
| Oldham | -31 | 76 | 53 |

- **Note**: Most stretched is end year usable reserves as a share of net current expenditure. Drawdown is the fall in usable reserves over the year, among councils that started with more than 20 million pounds.

## A rising bill, and where it is hardest to collect

The average Band D council tax in England reached 2,280 pounds in 2025 to 2026, up 5 per cent on the year. What a household pays varies widely: from about 998 pounds in Wandsworth, kept structurally low, to 2,671 pounds in Rutland. Collection is also slipping in the hardest pressed places: in Liverpool only 86.8 per cent of the tax due was collected in year, against an England average of 95.6 per cent.

**Highest**

| name | bandD |
|---|---|
| Rutland | 2,671 |
| Nottingham | 2,656 |
| Dorset | 2,630 |
| Lewes | 2,627 |
| Wealden | 2,608 |
| Bristol | 2,584 |
| Newark and Sherwood | 2,582 |
| Gateshead | 2,578 |

**Lowest**

| name | bandD |
|---|---|
| Wandsworth | 998 |
| Westminster | 1,019 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 1,451 |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 1,592 |
| Tower Hamlets | 1,755 |
| Windsor and Maidenhead | 1,824 |
| Newham | 1,856 |
| Southwark | 1,878 |

**Worst collection**

| name | rate |
|---|---|
| Liverpool | 86.8 |
| Manchester | 88.6 |
| Birmingham | 90 |
| Blackpool | 90 |
| Preston | 90.7 |
| Knowsley | 91 |
| Brent | 91.6 |
| Lewisham | 91.7 |

- **Band d**: 2,280
- **Band dchange**: 5
- **Collection pct**: 95.6

## For council finances

- Councils are drawing down reserves even as council tax and spending power rise. Is the extra income keeping pace with the cost of services like social care?
- A handful of councils now hold almost no usable reserves. What happens when one of them meets an unexpected cost?
- The average Band D bill has passed 2,280 pounds. How much further can council tax rise before collection rates fall faster?
- Collection is weakest in the most deprived towns and cities. Does a lower collection rate compound the pressure on exactly the councils with the least room?

## Sources

- Local authority revenue expenditure and financing 2024-25, individual LA data (MHCLG) (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing-england-2024-to-2025-individual-local-authority-data-outturn) · Open Government Licence v3.0
- Council tax levels set by local authorities in England 2025-26 (MHCLG) (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/council-tax-levels-set-by-local-authorities-in-england-2025-to-2026) · Open Government Licence v3.0
- Collection rates for council tax and non-domestic rates in England 2025-26 (MHCLG) (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/collection-rates-for-council-tax-and-non-domestic-rates-in-england-2025-to-2026) · Open Government Licence v3.0
- Core spending power, final local government finance settlement 2025-26 (MHCLG) (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/core-spending-power-table-final-local-government-finance-settlement-2025-to-2026) · Open Government Licence v3.0

## Caveats and data notes

- Usable, non ring fenced reserves are unallocated reserves plus other earmarked reserves. They exclude schools, dedicated schools grant and public health reserves, which are ring fenced. The figures are MHCLG revenue outturn returns for 2024-25.
- The most stretched measure is end year reserves as a share of net current expenditure. It flags low headroom, not imminent failure, and a council can hold low reserves by choice.
- Council tax Band D here is the whole area bill including county, police and fire precepts where they apply. A few authorities, such as Wandsworth and Westminster, keep Band D structurally low. City of London and the Isles of Scilly are set aside as outliers.
- Collection rates are the in year figure, the share of the tax due that was collected within the year. Later recovery raises the eventual total, so the in year figure understates final collection.
- Figures are for England only and for service delivering authorities; police, fire and combined authority bodies are excluded from the per council leagues. Two tier areas report county and district reserves separately.
- Sources: MHCLG revenue outturn 2024-25, council tax levels 2025-26, collection rates 2025-26, core spending power final settlement 2025-26.

---

British Resilience Index, a non-partisan UK civic data project. Every figure is
reconciled to its primary official publisher before it is shown. Free to cite with
attribution: https://britishresilienceindex.com