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A free, online model of the local government finance system.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies, in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and the District Councils' Network (DCN), have created a free, online model of the local government finance system. This uses publicly available data to project forwards revenues and spending for each council, under different scenarios. This is intended to support councils in medium to longer-term financial planning, and also in engaging with potential reforms to the funding system. We hope this will be a useful complement to the financial modelling tools that are already available to councils.

The model should appear below, and is also available on the CIPFA website. On this page, you can also find a short video on how to use the model, as well as a detailed User Guide.

Please note: The IFS, CIPFA and DCN do not offer any warranty in relation to the operation of and results obtained from the IFS-CIPFA Local Government Finance Model.

The model is best experienced on a desktop or laptop computer. 

Download the user guide here

The IFS, CIPFA and DCN do not offer any warranty in relation to the operation of and results obtained from the IFS-CIPFA Local Government Finance Model. Users make use of the model at their own risk, and any decisions informed by use of the model are the responsibility of the council in question. Potential errors in the official data used, inherent uncertainty about the future, and the ability of councils to vary assumptions all mean that the results produced by the model are indicative and contingent on factors outside the control of the IFS, CIPFA and DCN.

    Authors

    David Phillips
    David Phillips

    Associate Director

    David is Head of Devolved and Local Government Finance. He also works on tax in developing countries as part of our TaxDev centre.

    Kate Ogden
    Kate Ogden

    Senior Research Economist

    Kate joined the IFS in 2020 and works on local government finance and higher education.

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    Publisher
    IFS

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