CivAccount

CivAccount

Open data access

Using CivAccount data

CivAccount presents public UK council data in an accessible format. Writers, researchers, students, and anyone else are free to download, embed, and cite it. No permission required.

What the dataset covers

All 317 English councils, sourced exclusively from .gov.uk and ONS.

317

English councils

296

With Band D 2026-27

270

With CEO salary

~15k

Data points

Headline figures

Auto-generated from the dataset. Each figure states its financial year and cites its original .gov.uk source — please verify at the source and cite it directly, not CivAccount.

  1. 01

    Average Band D council tax in England, 2026-27: £2,411 (+4.8% vs 2025-26).

    Source: GOV.UK Council Tax levels 2026-27

  2. 02

    Cheapest Band D in England, 2026-27: £1,028.00 (Wandsworth). Most expensive: £2,765.00 (Dorset UA Council).

    Source: GOV.UK Council Tax levels 2026-27

  3. 03

    Total planned net service expenditure by English councils, 2025-26: £104,640,213,000.

    Source: MHCLG Revenue Account (RA) returns 2025-26

  4. 04

    Highest chief executive total remuneration disclosed by an English council: £362,000 (John Barradell, City of London).

    Source: Council's Localism Act 2011 Pay Policy Statement

  5. 05

    Council employees in England disclosed as earning £100,000 or more: 713.

    Source: Senior salary disclosures published by individual councils

  6. 06

    Largest disclosed budget gap as a share of net budget: 29.1% (Hackney).

    Source: Council medium-term financial strategy documents

  7. 07

    Combined disclosed spend with Capita, Serco, Veolia, Biffa and Amey across English councils: £182,482,954 (1% of disclosed top-supplier spend).

    Source: Top-supplier disclosures published by individual councils

  8. 08

    Largest single disclosed private supplier to English councils: EDF Energy Customers Limited — £478,024,124 across 2 councils.

    Source: Top-supplier disclosures published by individual councils

  9. 09

    Biggest spending category in English council service budgets: Education (41p of every £1).

    Source: MHCLG RA/RO returns, 2025-26

These figures regenerate automatically when the dataset updates. For the full record, use the downloads below or visit the individual council pages.

Named datasets

Recurring CivAccount data cuts with a stable name and methodology. Each is a view of the underlying public data.

  • Postcode Lottery Index£1,737

    Gap between the cheapest and most expensive Band D council tax in England, 2026-27.

  • £100k Club713 people

    Council employees in England disclosed as earning £100,000 or more.

  • CEO Pay League£362,000

    Highest chief-executive total remuneration disclosed in 2025-26.

  • Big Five Outsourcers£182,482,954

    Combined disclosed annual payments to Capita, Serco, Veolia, Biffa, and Amey.

How to access the data

Per-council lookups, not bulk export. Each individual council's record is a separate request.

Data reference

Field dictionary, units, coverage, endpoints

/data

Developer API & embeds

Per-council JSON, change feed, iframe snippets, rate limits

/api/v1/…

There is no bulk CSV or JSON of the full dataset. Individual council slugs are in the sitemap. For units: budget values in thousands of pounds; council tax and supplier spend in pounds.

Citing the data

Appreciated, not legally required for individual figures. Cite the original .gov.uk source first where you can.

Short

Source: CivAccount (civaccount.co.uk)

Full (research / academic)

CivAccount (2026). “[Name of dataset or page]”. civaccount.co.uk. Accessed [date]. Source data: Open Government Licence v3.0.

Named dataset

CivAccount Postcode Lottery Index, 2026-27 (civaccount.co.uk/insights/postcode-lottery)

Every data point on every council page links back to its original .gov.uk source. See the methodology for the full source list.

Per-council data

Pull any council's full record as JSON. No API key.

Any council (replace slug)

https://www.civaccount.co.uk/api/v1/councils/[slug]

Example

https://www.civaccount.co.uk/api/v1/councils/kent

Change feed (what's new)

https://www.civaccount.co.uk/api/v1/diffs?since=2026-04-01

Slugs are kebab-case council names (e.g. kent, birmingham, tower-hamlets). Full list in the sitemap.

Popular council pages

Common starting points

Kent County CouncilSurrey County CouncilBirmingham CouncilManchester CouncilLiverpool CouncilLeeds CouncilWestminsterHackneyTower HamletsCamdenCroydonCornwall Council

Common questions

About using the data

Can I reproduce CivAccount data in my article or research?

Yes. Quote any figure freely — the source data is Open Government Licence v3.0 and the code is MIT; the compiled dataset is under the CivAccount Data Licence, which allows quoting and embedding without asking. Please credit "CivAccount (civaccount.co.uk)" and, where you can, the original .gov.uk source.

How often is the data updated?

Council tax rates are refreshed within 2 weeks of each council setting its annual budget (Feb-Mar). Spending data follows the DLUHC publication cycle (typically Nov). Leadership and supplier data is updated throughout the year as councils publish.

Where does CivAccount source its data?

Exclusively from .gov.uk sources: MHCLG/DLUHC Revenue Account (RA) and Revenue Outturn (RO) returns, individual council Pay Policy Statements and Members' Allowances schemes, ONS population estimates, and council websites. No third-party aggregators.

Can I get bulk data?

Yes. CSV and JSON downloads of all 317 councils are available at civaccount.co.uk/data and via a free public API at civaccount.co.uk/api/v1/download. No API key required.

Do you offer embeddable widgets?

Yes. Every council has embeddable iframe widgets. Free to use on any website. See civaccount.co.uk/developers.

Is this an official government site?

No. CivAccount is an independent open-source civic tool that presents public UK council data in an accessible format. It is not affiliated with any council, government body, political party, or commercial data aggregator.

Does CivAccount provide commentary, quotes, or interviews?

No. CivAccount is a data presentation tool, not a media organisation. The site presents the data as-is with links back to the original .gov.uk sources; interpretation is left to the reader.

Corrections & contributions

The data is maintained openly. Errors are fixed and logged publicly.

Spotted an error? Tell us the page, the figure, and the source you believe is correct. Fixes are logged transparently on the change log.

Developers & contributors. Public issues and pull requests welcome on GitHub (opens in new tab).

CivAccount is a data presentation tool, not a media organisation — it does not provide commentary, interpretation, or interviews. For comment on council finances, contact the council directly.

Brand & assets

If you're writing about the tool itself

  • Name: CivAccount (one word, capital C and A)
  • Domain: civaccount.co.uk (or www.civaccount.co.uk)
  • Logo: /icon-512 (512×512 PNG, transparent background). SVG in the GitHub repo (opens in new tab).
  • Short description: “An open-source tool that presents public UK council data in an accessible format.”
  • Licence: Code MIT; source data OGL v3.0; compiled dataset CivAccount Data Licence (quote and embed freely).