Distributional effects

Londoners may have the highest average incomes, but their household spending once you account for housing costs is lower than other regions.

On average, London local authorities rank at the top of the income distribution, but are bottom of the net-of-housing consumption distribution.

Measuring living standards using average household spending gives a starkly different picture of regional inequalities than using average income.

Explore how and where the government spends money, and how this has changed over time, in all regions and nations of the UK

How much does the government spend in each region of England and how does that compare with regional economic activity?

Mitigating the two-child limit policy would be an effective way to reduce child poverty, but designing an effective policy is not straightforward. 

2025–26 will continue the substantial above-inflation increases in funding for English councils, but their costs have also been outpacing inflation.

English councils’ core spending power set to increase 3.8% in real terms next year, but increases will vary hugely across the country.

The most deprived quintile consistently has higher PM2.5 air pollution levels than the least deprived, and this gap has widened since 2017.

The correlation between the income deprivation rank and air pollution is weaker and getting slightly stronger over time.

On top of inherited plans, personal tax and benefit measures will on average reduce incomes by £1,400 over this parliament. 

David Phillips gave this presentation on local government finances to the House of Commons Library Social Policy training day in October 2024.

David Phillips gave this presentation at the IRRV annual conference in October 2024.

David Phillips gave this presentation on local government finances to Office for Local Government (OfLoG) staff in September 2024.

David Phillips gave this presentation on local government finances at a Pixel Financial Management conference in September 2024. 

David Phillips gave this presentation on local government finances at an LGIU conference in July 2024.