Government Spending in the UK

This is a snapshot of UK government spending. I have listed some of the major departments and how much spending. People may be surprised to find that the biggest department by far is social security benefits. This includes a variety of benefits such as,

Unemployment benefit
Housing Benefit
Child support
Pensions
Income support
Sickness benefit

Government Spending in Real Terms

	2000-01	2007-08
Social security benefits	121,000	133,882
Health	52,000	89,673
Education	16,786	57,846
Local Government	33,000	22,000
Defense	32,183	32,831
Home Office	10,423	13,571
Scotland	15,018	23,510
Wales	7,885	12,481
International Development	2,819	4,637

Total Government Expenditure	433,161	557,400m

Note: figures for 2007-08 are planned

Real Terms means that the figures have been adjusted for inflation. It gives a better indication to how much services can be improved by.

Biggest increases in Government Spending in UK

Health spending increased by 72% (£37,000(
Education spending increased by 244% (£41,045) Note: this may have been offset by decrease in local government spending on education.

Notes on Spending

Interesting to note that defense spending has remained almost the same in real terms
Interesting to note that the Scottish budget increases despite the independence of Scottish Parliament. No surprise the Scots can afford to get rid of tuition fees.
International development still accounts for less than 1% of Government spending

Source:

HM Treasury Government Spending plans

Essays and Revision Notes on Fiscal Policy

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