Local Government Finance
Councils are legally required to maintain a balanced budget and create a Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) that outlines their financial plans for the next three years. This includes both capital and revenue spending, ensuring that public funds are managed responsibly and effectively, providing assurance to the council and councillors about the long-term financial health of the authority.
The county council agreed the budget for 2025/26 on Wednesday 26 February 2025.
- Net budget £1,244.620 million in 2025/26
- Council tax increase (for the county council's element of council tax) of 4.99%, comprising 2.99% general increase and a further 2% for the Adult Social Care Precept
As well as delivering our day to day services, we are improving the county's infrastructure and driving economic growth. To do this we have agreed a capital delivery programme for 2025/26 of £299.635 million funded from borrowing, central government capital grants, and developer contributions.
For more detail have a look at the 2025/26 budget documents.
The money we raise for capital expenditure through borrowing and investing must be affordable and have regard to the Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities.
Any council investments must comply with our treasury management strategy (PDF 836 KB) (Appendix A Annex H).
The annual Statement of Accounts is an important statutory document produced and published by the council every year. The central role of the Statement of Accounts is to enhance the financial accountability of the council to those external to the council. They are prepared and published to give electors, local taxpayers, service users, elected members, employees and other interested parties clear information about the council’s finances over the previous financial year, setting these in the wider council context.
Lancashire County Council's latest statement of accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024 are published on the council's website.