This compares the loans the council has outstanding with what it spends running services in a year — like a mortgage-to-income ratio for a council. It matters because it puts the borrowing in proportion: big councils can carry more debt than small ones. A high number means the council has borrowed several times its yearly budget, which makes it vulnerable to interest costs; a low number means borrowing is modest for its size.
| name | gross_borrowing_to_core_spend |
|---|---|
| dataset | 02-capital-outturn-debt |
| kind | constructed |
| type | numeric |
| unit | ratio |
| grain | council-year |
| role | feature |
| source | gross_borrowing_end / core_spend — PRU2T1_prubrwgrs_end (this dataset) divided by RS_netcurrtot_net_exp from 01-revenue-outturn; join on ONS_code/year |
| period | 2018-19 to 2024-25 |
| missingness | unknown |
| score_note | Solid leverage ratio but near-duplicate of debt_to_core_spend. |
| peer_group | council class (district / county / unitary / metropolitan / London) — not yet scored on the leaderboard |
The externalized-debt variant of the leverage measure: actual external loans, rather than borrowing need (CFR), per pound of core service spend. It complements debt_to_core_spend by showing leverage the council has already taken to market. Same normalizer caveats apply: core spend stands in for population, and reorganisations break year-on-year comparability.