This compares a council's built-up schools-budget debt with its entire yearly budget for all services — bins, roads, social care, everything. It matters because it shows how big a threat this hidden debt is to the council as a whole, not just to its schools budget. A high number means the debt could seriously destabilise the council's overall finances if it ever has to be paid; a low number means it is small in the grand scheme.
| Council | Class | Value | In its class |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | unitary | 0.18 | 1st worst of 60 |
| Cheshire East | unitary | 0.17 | 2nd worst of 60 |
| Dorset | unitary | 0.13 | 3rd worst of 60 |
| Wokingham | unitary | 0.12 | 4th worst of 60 |
| Hillingdon | london | 0.12 | 1st worst of 33 |
| Bath and North East Somerset | unitary | 0.12 | 5th worst of 60 |
| Merton | london | 0.11 | 2nd worst of 33 |
| Sefton | metropolitan | 0.11 | 1st worst of 36 |
| Worcestershire | county | 0.11 | 1st worst of 21 |
| Bracknell Forest | unitary | 0.1 | 6th worst of 60 |
| Council | Class | Value | In its class |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portsmouth | unitary | -0.03 | 1st best of 60 |
| Camden | london | -0.03 | 1st best of 33 |
| Coventry | metropolitan | -0.02 | 1st best of 36 |
| Southend-on-Sea | unitary | -0.02 | 2nd best of 60 |
| Nottingham | unitary | -0.02 | 3rd best of 60 |
| Bradford | metropolitan | -0.02 | 2nd best of 36 |
| Birmingham | metropolitan | -0.02 | 3rd best of 36 |
| Lambeth | london | -0.01 | 2nd best of 33 |
| North Lincolnshire | unitary | -0.01 | 4th best of 60 |
| Barnet | london | -0.01 | 3rd best of 33 |
| name | dsg_deficit_vs_revenue |
|---|---|
| dataset | 05-dsg-send-deficits |
| kind | constructed |
| type | numeric |
| unit | ratio |
| grain | local authority x financial year |
| role | outcome |
| source | dsg_deficit_cum ÷ total service expenditure from sibling dataset 01-revenue-outturn (data/Revenue_Outturn_time_series_data_v3.2.csv); join new_la_code ↔ ONS_code (E-prefixed, verified), time_period ↔ year_ending |
| period | 2015-16 to 2024-25 (2016-17 missing) |
| missingness | Missing where dsg_deficit_cum is missing or the LA fails to join to dataset 01 |
| score_note | Unique cross-dataset materiality measure; availability docked for the fragile join to dataset 01. |
| calculated | calculated/dsg-deficit-vs-revenue.csv |
| calculated_rows | 1206 |
| calculated_periods | 2017-18 to 2024-25 |
| calculated_date | 2026-08-13 |
| peer_group | unitaries (n=62), metropolitan boroughs (n=36), London boroughs (n=33), counties (n=26) — scored within each class against its median/IQR |
The off-balance-sheet DSG deficit relative to the council's overall revenue budget — how material the statutory-override cliff edge is for the council as a whole. Uses the corrected sign convention (positive = deficit; SOURCE.md's contrary line is wrong). Cross-dataset join keys were verified in both files, but LGR around 2023 can still break the join for reorganised authorities.