Glossary of terms

Capital expenditure

Expenditure on assets having a life expectancy greater than one year. It is possible to pay for items of a capital nature from revenue resources.

Revenue expenditure

Expenditure on day to day items which do not generate an asset. It is not possible to finance revenue costs from capital resources such as borrowing.

Housing revenue account

The ring fenced account used in the management of our own housing stock.

General fund

Items of revenue expenditure which are not related to the housing revenue account.

Investment programme

The programme of investments agreed each year by us, the council.

Interest

The interest payable on borrowed money. This is charged to the revenue account (general fund or housing revenue account).

Prudential borrowing

This refers to our ability to borrow money and is prudential because we can only borrow sums that we can demonstrate can be repaid.

Capital receipts

Sums of money obtained from the sale of assets such as land and property. These receipts can only be used to fund items of a capital nature.

Section 106

Sums of money received from developers. Subject to each S106 agreement, these sums can be used for either revenue or capital purposes, but are predominantly capital purposes.

Grants

Are received from a variety of sources and can be either revenue or capital. Revenue grants are used to support the operation of a service. Capital grants are used to provide an asset.