Local government in England: capital finance
House of Commons Library
- House of Commons Library
An introduction to capital finance and borrowing by local authorities in England, including details on the Public Works Loan Board, bonds, and tax increment financing.
- Local authorities are required to distinguish between capital and revenue finance in their accounting.
- They can access capital finance for infrastructure investment from a number of sources, but borrowing is the most common of these.
- The note also covers recent debates on the possibility of local authority pension funds investing in local authority infrastructure projects; and on the restrictions on investment using funds from local authorities Housing Revenue Accounts.