Council funding · Enfield · london borough · 2017–18 to 2025–26

Enfield: where the money comes from and where it goes

From the council’s own returns to government. Figures are revenue only, in cash and in 2025–26 prices, and cover 2017–18 to 2025–26.

Evidence last reviewed 3 November 2026

Compare with other councils · Enfield on UK Facts

Money for running services, 2025–26: £711.7m; £2,161 a person
Change a person since 2017–18, real terms: +5%; Median for London boroughs: +8%
Share of income from government grants: 62%; £449.2m in grants
Share of income from council tax: 24%; £174.5m

Where the money comes from

Where does Enfield's money for services come from?

Enfield's money for running services rose 5% a person in real terms from 2017–18 to 2025–26

Revenue funding by source, £ million in 2025–26 prices. Excludes housing benefit passed on to claimants, capital spending and council homes.

Enfield (london borough, E09000010) · 2017–18 to 2025–26

These are the council’s own returns. A rise in real terms does not by itself mean more money for the same services: the GDP deflator is a whole-economy price measure, care and other costs can rise faster, and new grants can come with new duties. The years before 2017–18 are not in this data set; England-wide figures for 2010–11 onwards are on the main council funding page.

Enfield (london borough, E09000010) · 2017–18 to 2025–26 · Outturn; 2025–26 is the first release and may be revised

Show the workings

Geography:: Enfield (london borough, E09000010)
Measure:: £ million, 2025–26 prices (GDP deflator)
Period:: 2017–18 to 2025–26
Status:: Outturn; 2025–26 is the first release and may be revised
Calculation:: Rebuilt from the council’s Revenue Outturn financing lines; real terms = cash × 100 ÷ GDP deflator (2025–26 = 100). Central government grants = Revenue Support Grant, grants inside Aggregate External Finance (including schools, social care and public health grants) and one-off Covid support.
Compare with:: £2,161 a person in 2025–26, against a median of £2,217 for 34 London boroughs.
Not included / breaks:: Revenue only. Councils of different types have different duties, so compare like with like. Education funding falls as schools become academies.

Source: MHCLG, Local authority revenue expenditure and financing: Revenue Outturn multi-year data set (September 2026 edition, v4), RS financing lines 800 to 890; service lines 190 to 698 (released September 2026).

View the data as a table

Source (£ thousand, cash)	2017–18	2018–19	2019–20	2020–21	2021–22	2022–23	2023–24	2024–25	2025–26
Council tax	114,169	121,079	127,311	133,276	133,108	139,361	146,963	164,118	174,545
Business rates kept locally	73,139	109,330	97,114	81,096	80,667	80,967	93,752	101,393	102,477
Revenue Support Grant	34,050	-0	-0	17,570	17,668	18,214	20,758	22,133	22,600
Other government grants (including schools, social care and public health)	306,448	298,598	273,679	313,186	318,108	321,101	360,550	393,832	426,553
Grants passed on (mainly housing benefit)	331,854	309,253	309,386	273,400	267,458	242,210	223,902	173,261	139,475
One-off Covid support	-0	-0	15,503	82,622	23,670	-0	-0	-0	-0
Reserves used (+) or added to (−)	-15,713	-21,268	-11,034	-39,465	5,159	42,908	26,295	-2,766	-14,489
Other items	-298	4,204	1,740	0	9,191	6,641	2,181	1,015	1
Money for running services (total less money passed on)	511,795	511,943	504,313	588,285	587,571	609,192	650,499	679,725	711,687
Population (mid-year)	333,077	334,000	335,151	333,149	329,876	328,898	330,673	331,421	329,400

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Not included above: £139.5m of grants passed on in 2025–26, mainly housing benefit paid to claimants. It has been falling as claimants move to Universal Credit, which the Department for Work and Pensions pays directly. That is a change in who pays, not a cut to council services.

Where the money goes, 2025–26

Spending on each service after income from fees, charges and grants for that service, £ million, cash. Total £711.7m.

Adult social care£149.3m
Children’s social care£83.8m
Education (council-run schools and support)£344.1m
Environment and waste£19.0m
Highways and transport£11.1m
Public health£22.2m
Housing (not council homes)£41.8m
Planning and development£7.6m
Culture and leisure£8.6m
Central services£18.9m
Other services£5.3m

What changed, service by service

Net spending in 2017–18 and 2025–26, with the change in 2025–26 prices. Biggest falls first. A fall in net spending can mean a cut, or more income from charges or service grants; a rise can mean more demand or higher costs, not a better service.

Enfield: change in net service spending, 2017–18 to 2025–26
Service	2017–18 (cash)	2025–26 (cash)	Real change
Education (council-run schools and support)	£284.4m	£344.1m	−£37.1m (−10%)
Highways and transport	£16.5m	£11.1m	−£11.0m (−50%)
Culture and leisure	£13.3m	£8.6m	−£9.2m (−52%)
Environment and waste	£17.8m	£19.0m	−£4.9m (−20%)
Central services	£16.6m	£18.9m	−£3.4m (−15%)
Public health	£17.5m	£22.2m	−£1.3m (−6%)
Planning and development	£1.8m	£7.6m	+£5.3m (+225%)
Other services	£-1.2m	£5.3m	+£6.9m
Children’s social care	£46.5m	£83.9m	+£21.5m (+35%)
Housing (not council homes)	£13.2m	£41.8m	+£24.2m (+137%)
Adult social care	£77.9m	£149.3m	+£44.8m (+43%)

What each funding source means

Council tax: Council tax requirement (RS line 890): what the council raised from council tax for its own budget, including any parish precepts it collects.
Business rates kept locally: Business rates kept by the council under the rates retention scheme (RS line 870), after tariffs, top-ups and the central share.
Revenue Support Grant: Revenue Support Grant (RS line 851): the general grant from central government. Some councils received none in some years.
Other government grants (including schools, social care and public health): Specific and special grants inside Aggregate External Finance, Local Services Support Grant and police grant (RS lines 803, 804, 856). Includes the Dedicated Schools Grant for maintained schools, social care grants and public health grant.
Grants passed on (mainly housing benefit): Specific and special grants outside Aggregate External Finance (RS line 791), mainly housing benefit subsidy paid through councils.
One-off Covid support: Covid-19 emergency funding, income compensation and related one-off grants (RS lines 852 to 874), 2019-20 to 2021-22 only.
Reserves used (+) or added to (−): Money drawn from (+) or added to (−) reserves (RS lines 811 to 816).
Other items: Remaining financing lines (transfers on reorganisation, investment income, collection-fund adjustments and other items), so the parts add up to the total.

Source: MHCLG, Local authority revenue expenditure and financing: Revenue Outturn multi-year data set (September 2026 edition, v4), retrieved 2026-11-03. Method and limits.