Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 6 of the statutory guidance entitled Flexible use of capital receipts: direction, updated on 26 March 2025, which local authorities have informed her Department of using those flexibilities since July 2024; what the purpose of the expenditure capitalised was; and how much was capitalised.

As set out in the gov.uk general direction and guidance, local authorities intending to use the flexible use of capital receipt (FUCR) discretionary freedom are required to provide the government details planned use of the flexibility. This is to support transparency in local decision making; local authorities remain responsible in ensuring that they meet the requirements of the direction and appropriately follow the guidance.

The government does not publish a list of authorities that have submitted plans or details that authorities have provided on the intended use of the flexibility – in some cases authorities may have chosen not to make this information public for reasons such as commercial sensitivity. However, the direction requires that the flexibility may only be used for costs incurred to generate ongoing revenue savings or reduce costs.

For financial year 2024/25, 55 local authorities provided plans to government in accordance with the FUCR direction and guidance between 1 July 2024 and 31 March 2025; for 2025/26, a further 60 authorities have so far provided plans. The total value of capitalised costs under the direction for 2024/25 will be available in the annual Revenue Outturn data provided to government – this data is expected to be published in September 2025.