Government spending in the United Kingdom - wikipedia Government spending in the United Kingdom Pie chart of UK central government expenditure, 2016 -- 17. Debt interest is shown in dark green. Social protection includes Pensions and Welfare. Central government spending in the United Kingdom, also called public expenditure, is the responsibility of the UK government, the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive. In the Budget for financial year 2016 -- 17, proposed total government spending was £ 772 billion. Spending per head is significantly higher in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland than it is in England. In the case of Scotland, however, although public spending is greater than the United Kingdom average, this is because Scotland has historically produced more tax than people in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, although following a decline in the oil price in 2014, Scotland produced slightly less revenue than England per capita in 2014 -- 15. As of 2014 and the release of the GERS report, Scotland had a higher deficit relative to the UK deficit as a whole and received an increased net subsidy from UK government borrowing, this deficit was attributed to declining oil revenues as the price of crude oil has fallen. This condition is predicted to only get worse should oil revenues fall further. Department 2016 -- 17 Expenditure ( £ bn ) Social protection 240 Health 145 Education 102 Debt interest 39 Defence 46 Public order and safety 34 Personal social services 30 Housing and Environment 34 Transport 29 Industry, agriculture and employment 24 Other 49 Total Government spending 772 The graph shows spending by sector with prices adjusted for inflation. The Other Expenditure includes general public services ( £ 22bn in 2013 / 14 ), Housing and community amenities ( £ 12bn ), Environment protection ( £ 12bn ), Recreation, culture and religion ( £ 12bn ). Accounting adjustments of £ 46 in 2013 / 14 have not been included. The spikes in ' Economic Affairs ' and ' Debt Interest ' were due to the financial sector interventions in the banking collapse of 2008. Local government spending Further information : Local government in the United Kingdom Local government spending is the responsibility of local authorities, under the supervision of the respective national governments : English local authorities, under the supervision of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Scottish local authorities, under the supervision of the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth Welsh local authorities, under the supervision of the Minister for Local Government and Communities Northern Ireland local authorities, under the supervision of the Minister of the Environment See also Barnett Formula Fiscal autonomy for Scotland History of the English fiscal system Taxation in the United Kingdom United Kingdom budget, the budget of the UK government United Kingdom national debt International : Government budget by country List of countries by tax revenue as percentage of GDP References ^ Jump up to : `` UK 2016 Budget '' ( PDF ). p. 5. Jump up ^ Daily Telegraph ( 30 August 2011 ). `` Government spending gap between England and Scotland widens ''. The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 30 August 2011. Jump up ^ Scottish Government. `` Scotland generates more in tax than rest of the UK ''. Retrieved 9 October 2013. Jump up ^ `` A disaggregation of HMRC tax receipts between England, Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland '' ( PDF ). 1 October 2015. p. 12. Retrieved 28 December 2015. Jump up ^ `` Government Expenditure & Revenue Scotland 2012 -- 13 ''. Jump up ^ http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0047/00472877.pdf#page=8 Jump up ^ HM Treasury ( 30 April 2015 ). `` Public Spending Statistics release : April 2015 ''. gov.uk. p. 21. Retrieved 26 June 2015. United Kingdom budget By year 1909 1981 1999 2002 2003 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 March 2010 June 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 March 2015 July 2015 2016 March 2017 November 2017 Other Budget Day Government spending in the United Kingdom Money bill Office for Budget Responsibility Parliament Act 1911 Spending Review Spring Statement Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Government_spending_in_the_United_Kingdom&oldid=827227934 '' Categories : Public finance of the United Kingdom Fiscal policy Hidden categories : Use dmy dates from September 2011 Pages with graphs Talk About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 23 February 2018, at 14 : 27. About Wikipedia

Question: what does the uk government spend the most money on
Answer: Social protection