How fast the council is eating into its free savings — what share of the pot it used up this year. A council dipping into savings once to cover a bad year is normal; one doing it year after year is living beyond its means. Near zero or negative (topping savings up) is healthy; a large positive figure repeated over several years signals a budget that doesn't add up without raiding the piggy bank.
| Council | Class | Value | In its class |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hillingdon | london | 117.37 | 1st worst of 33 |
| Blackpool UA | unitary | 92.83 | 1st worst of 61 |
| Wyre | district | 77.62 | 1st worst of 154 |
| Great Yarmouth | district | 66.71 | 2nd worst of 154 |
| Gloucester | district | 66.5 | 3rd worst of 154 |
| South Kesteven | district | 62.01 | 4th worst of 154 |
| South Tyneside | metropolitan | 58.06 | 1st worst of 36 |
| Cambridge | district | 53.82 | 5th worst of 154 |
| South Derbyshire | district | 53.63 | 6th worst of 154 |
| Manchester | metropolitan | 53.03 | 2nd worst of 36 |
| Council | Class | Value | In its class |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harborough | district | -297.85 | 1st best of 154 |
| Fareham | district | -204.97 | 2nd best of 154 |
| Dudley | metropolitan | -192.78 | 1st best of 36 |
| Nottingham City UA | unitary | -179.65 | 1st best of 61 |
| Birmingham | metropolitan | -173.85 | 2nd best of 36 |
| Rochford | district | -173.15 | 3rd best of 154 |
| West Berkshire UA | unitary | -164.93 | 2nd best of 61 |
| East Riding of Yorkshire UA | unitary | -163.62 | 3rd best of 61 |
| Lancashire CC | county | -138.96 | 1st best of 21 |
| North Warwickshire | district | -124.05 | 4th best of 154 |
| name | reserves-drawdown-rate |
|---|---|
| dataset | 01-revenue-outturn |
| kind | constructed |
| type | percentage |
| unit | % per year |
| grain | council-year |
| role | feature |
| source | Formula: `(RS_resunall_start_cy - RS_resunall_end_cy) / RS_resunall_start_cy`. Inputs: this dataset's CSV only |
| period | FY 2017-18 to 2024-25, annual (year_ending 201803-202503) |
| missingness | "Rows with status other than "submitted" (i.e. "total" aggregates and "not submitted") must be filtered out; a non-submitted council-year is a genuine gap, not zero. 2024-25 covers 410/411 councils. Councils abolished/created in 2017-25 reorganisations appear only for the years they existed. Undefined (division by zero) where start-of-year unallocated reserves are zero." |
| score_note | Living-off-savings signal with real discriminating power, but heavily overlaps reserves-cover and needs the earmarked caveat. |
| calculated | ../calculated/reserves-drawdown-rate.csv |
| calculated_rows | 3361 |
| calculated_periods | 2017-18 to 2024-25 |
| calculated_date | 2026-08-13 |
| peer_group | districts (n=203), unitaries (n=65), metropolitan boroughs (n=36), London boroughs (n=33), counties (n=27) — scored within each class against its median/IQR |
The share of unallocated reserves consumed within the year — is the council living off its savings? Positive sustained drawdown alongside falling reserves cover signals structural deficit rather than one-off smoothing. Interpret alongside earmarked reserves, which can mask or exaggerate the picture.