Council spending since 2023
Year by year
| Year | Reported | Monthly average | Care and individuals | Running costs | Itemised on Council Watch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | £193m | £64.3m | £59.1m | £42.2m | £86.2m |
| 2023/24 | £717.6m | £59.8m | £255.9m | £135.9m | £298.4m |
| 2024/25 | £780.8m | £65.1m | £295.2m | £168m | £280.7m |
| 2025/26 | £861.3m | £71.8m | £357m | £201.6m | £258m |
| 2026/27 | £466.9m | £77.8m | £192.8m | £106.8m | £145.7m |
Every month
Where money may be wasted, year by year
Agency staff
- 2022/23£5.13m
- 2023/24£22m
- 2024/25£35.3m
- 2025/26£35.3m
- 2026/27£14.8m
Temporary workers fill gaps quickly, but relying on agencies for long periods usually costs more than employing people directly.
Consultants and professional fees
- 2022/23£6.08m
- 2023/24£19.2m
- 2024/25£17.5m
- 2025/26£17.2m
- 2026/27£6.97m
Councils bring in outside experts when they lack the skills in-house. Large, regular sums raise the question of whether staff could do the work for less.
Hotels
- 2022/23£3.81m
- 2023/24£20.6m
- 2024/25£29.4m
- 2025/26£34.2m
- 2026/27£16.7m
Booked through the council's travel agent. This can include emergency rooms for homeless households as well as staff travel. The file doesn't say which.
Taxis
- 2022/23£1.69m
- 2023/24£6.77m
- 2024/25£7.53m
- 2025/26£10.6m
- 2026/27£4.78m
Councils use taxis for things like home-to-school transport for pupils with special needs and moving vulnerable people. The file doesn't say what each journey was for.
Interest on borrowing
- 2022/23£0
- 2023/24£0
- 2024/25£12.2m
- 2025/26£13.7m
- 2026/27£12.9m
Money spent servicing loans is money not spent on services. It includes loans from the government and from other councils.
Outside lawyers
- 2022/23£550k
- 2023/24£2.31m
- 2024/25£3.91m
- 2025/26£4.92m
- 2026/27£1.6m
Outside legal advice is expensive. Rising legal bills can point to disputes, claims or contracts going wrong.
Coded only as "miscellaneous"
- 2022/23£8.4m
- 2023/24£35.7m
- 2024/25£45.6m
- 2025/26£48.1m
- 2026/27£43.4m
The council coded these payments as general or miscellaneous, so the file doesn't say what they bought. The supplier name is often the only clue.
Supplier name withheld
- 2022/23£598k
- 2023/24£2.78m
- 2024/25£5.27m
- 2025/26£4.74m
- 2026/27£2.12m
The council has withheld who was paid, citing commercial confidentiality. You can ask the council who they were with a freedom of information request.
Refunds and corrections
- 2022/23-£3.25m
- 2023/24-£25.5m
- 2024/25-£23.1m
- 2025/26-£33.7m
- 2026/27-£5.93m
Money coming back or mistakes being reversed. A lot of corrections can be a sign of payments going out wrongly in the first place.
Bins, street cleaning and parks
- 2022/23£19.9m
- 2023/24£55.3m
- 2024/25£67.5m
- 2025/26£55.6m
- 2026/27£15.1m
Top 25 suppliers since 2023
| Supplier | Total | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | 2025/26 | 2026/27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liverpool Streetscene Services Limi | £116.6m | £2.71m | £40.8m | £44m | £29m | – |
| Liverpool Schools Services Ltd Vari | £68.8m | £4.62m | £18.1m | £19.5m | £17.7m | £8.91m |
| NHS Cheshire And Merseyside Icb | £60.7m | £14.7m | £20.3m | £17.1m | £6.91m | £1.68m |
| Dowhigh Ltd | £37.2m | £1.52m | £7.31m | £9.85m | £9.87m | £8.62m |
| Huyton Asphalt Civils Ltd | £34.7m | £946k | £15.6m | £13m | £4.96m | £193k |
| Liverpool Waters Finance Ltd | £26.7m | – | – | – | £12.2m | £14.5m |
| Public Works Loan Board | £26.7m | – | – | £10.1m | £8.6m | £7.96m |
| Liverpool YMCA (SP) | £22.7m | £1.17m | £4.87m | £6.41m | £6.83m | £3.4m |
| Huyton Asphalt Ltd | £20.8m | £3.66m | £2.34m | £60k | £6.81m | £7.91m |
| Inspire Partnership Gp Ltd | £17.1m | – | £3,640 | £5.84m | £7.43m | £3.86m |
| Seddon Construction Ltd | £16.7m | – | £10.2m | £4.27m | £2.16m | £120k |
| Arena And Convention Centre Liverpo | £15.2m | £6.8m | £3.22m | £2.31m | £2.89m | – |
| Blackhawk Network Emea | £13.4m | – | £3.82m | £4.14m | £4.97m | £434k |
| We Are With You - Formerly Addactio | £11.9m | £2.5m | £5.01m | £4.05m | £334k | – |
| Liverpool University Hospitals NHS | £11m | £1.45m | £7.84m | £1.46m | £152k | £75k |
| Trowers & Hamlins LLP | £10.5m | – | – | £10.5m | £8,058 | – |
| Morgan Sindall PLC | £10.4m | £130k | £3.24m | £729k | £3.85m | £2.46m |
| Citizens Advice Liverpool | £9.59m | £1.19m | £2.85m | £3.02m | £348k | £2.17m |
| Next Energy Solutions Limited | £9.3m | £3.24m | £3.8m | – | £537k | £1.73m |
| The Whitechapel Centre (SP) | £9.29m | £396k | £2.24m | £2.7m | £2.76m | £1.2m |
| Yunex Ltd | £9.11m | – | £1.95m | £2.73m | £2.41m | £2.01m |
| Carlisle Security Services Ltd | £8.97m | £495k | £2.07m | £2.32m | £2.68m | £1.4m |
| Robertson Construction North West L | £8.34m | – | £4.1m | £1.59m | £2.65m | – |
| Colas Limited | £7.72m | £1.48m | £5.38m | £240k | £605k | £10k |
| Liverpool College | £7.7m | £142k | £996k | £5.41m | £851k | £304k |
Biggest increases: 2024/25 to 2025/26
- Liverpool Waters Finance Ltd+£12.2m
- Huyton Asphalt Ltd+£6.75m
- Morgan Sindall PLC+£3.12m
- Linked Living Liverpool Ltd+£2.12m
- J Mccann & Co Ltd+£1.73m
- Inspire Partnership Gp Ltd+£1.59m
- Northwest Travels Ltd+£1.21m
- The Liverpool Joint Catholic And Ch+£1.19m
- Veran Performance Ltd+£1.11m
- Robertson Construction North West L+£1.06m