Council funding · Hammersmith & Fulham · london borough · 2017–18 to 2025–26

Hammersmith & Fulham: 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 · Hammersmith and Fulham on UK Facts

Money for running services, 2025–26: £401.0m; £2,108 a person
Change a person since 2017–18, real terms: +12%; Median for London boroughs: +8%
Share of income from government grants: 58%; £237.4m in grants
Share of income from council tax: 21%; £84.9m

Where the money comes from

Where does Hammersmith & Fulham's money for services come from?

Hammersmith & Fulham's money for running services rose 12% 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.

Hammersmith & Fulham (london borough, E09000013) · 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.

Hammersmith & Fulham (london borough, E09000013) · 2017–18 to 2025–26 · Outturn; 2025–26 is the first release and may be revised

Show the workings

Geography:: Hammersmith & Fulham (london borough, E09000013)
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:: £2,108 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	55,269	56,665	60,396	63,786	67,331	68,440	73,180	78,825	84,864
Business rates kept locally	51,618	84,909	70,053	17,590	43,212	63,607	76,457	84,719	88,024
Revenue Support Grant	29,499	-0	-0	17,410	17,506	18,046	20,198	21,536	21,956
Other government grants (including schools, social care and public health)	140,004	143,289	144,474	184,139	194,758	185,265	185,165	200,009	215,418
Grants passed on (mainly housing benefit)	129,687	116,618	116,451	105,371	100,545	99,321	104,212	103,595	87,957
One-off Covid support	-0	-0	12,724	70,010	11,359	-0	-0	-0	-0
Reserves used (+) or added to (−)	-13,045	34,786	3,301	-93,339	9,031	7,916	-18,811	-14,213	-13,438
Other items	68	1,716	-622	-920	23,041	-1,633	-803	1,253	4,210
Money for running services (total less money passed on)	263,413	321,365	290,326	258,676	366,238	341,641	335,386	372,129	401,034
Population (mid-year)	187,720	189,037	188,562	186,555	183,310	187,187	189,683	190,803	190,216

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Not included above: £88.0m 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 £392.8m.

Adult social care£101.7m
Children’s social care£61.8m
Education (council-run schools and support)£140.8m
Environment and waste£45.0m
Highways and transport£-36.3m
Public health£26.4m
Housing (not council homes)£30.9m
Planning and development£-4.4m
Culture and leisure£6.5m
Central services£20.4m

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.

Hammersmith & Fulham: change in net service spending, 2017–18 to 2025–26
Service	2017–18 (cash)	2025–26 (cash)	Real change
Highways and transport	£-10.2m	£-36.3m	−£22.7m
Planning and development	£4.8m	£-4.4m	−£10.7m (−168%)
Public health	£23.6m	£26.4m	−£5.2m (−17%)
Culture and leisure	£4.5m	£6.5m	+£0.5m (+8%)
Children’s social care	£45.6m	£61.8m	+£0.7m (+1%)
Housing (not council homes)	£17.4m	£30.9m	+£7.6m (+33%)
Environment and waste	£24.9m	£45.0m	+£11.7m (+35%)
Central services	£5.7m	£20.4m	+£12.7m (+165%)
Education (council-run schools and support)	£92.8m	£140.8m	+£16.4m (+13%)
Adult social care	£59.5m	£101.7m	+£22.0m (+28%)

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.