Why the gaps
What kind of spending each pound is, and whether it can be followed
PESA also divides spending by what it buys: wages, goods and services, benefits, interest. Some kinds are published payment by payment; some never are.
Spending by economic category, 2025-26
HM Treasury, PESA 2026, table 5.3. Current and capital spending are listed separately; income is subtracted. "Accounting adjustments" appears twice in the table: as part of current and capital spending, and as the step from spending on services (£1,227.6bn) to total managed expenditure (£1,360.1bn).
| Category | 2025-26 | Can it be followed? | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pay Current expenditure on services | £311.1bn | As one total per body | Wages are not published person by person, and must not be. Each body's published pay total is counted as followed to its staff. |
| Gross current procurement Current expenditure on services | £344.3bn | Mostly | Goods and services bought. This is what spend-over-threshold files list, above the threshold. |
| Income from sales of goods and services Current expenditure on services | −£87.1bn | Netted | PESA subtracts income. Payment files are gross, so they can exceed a net total. |
| Current grants to persons and non-profit bodies Current expenditure on services | £359.6bn | By benefit, or by name | Benefits and pensions (counted by benefit, never by person) and grants to charities and other bodies (named in payment files and grant registers). |
| Current grants abroad Current expenditure on services | £8.1bn | Partly | Aid and contributions abroad: named where the paying department publishes. |
| Subsidies to private sector companies Current expenditure on services | £17.4bn | Partly | Named where the paying body publishes its payments. |
| Subsidies to public corporations Current expenditure on services | £3.3bn | Passed on | Paid to other public bodies. |
| Net public service pensions Current expenditure on services | −£3.7bn | No | A net accounting figure. |
| Public sector debt interest Current expenditure on services | £130.3bn | As one total | Paid to holders of gilts and other debt, who are not published one by one. Counted as followed that far. |
| Other Current expenditure on services | £1.4bn | — | |
| Accounting adjustments Current expenditure on services | £121.7bn | Not counted | Mainly depreciation and VAT refunded within government: not payments to anyone, and outside the total here. |
| Capital grants Capital expenditure on services | £32.0bn | Partly | Named where the paying body publishes. |
| Gross capital procurement Capital expenditure on services | £117.0bn | Mostly | Buildings, equipment and infrastructure bought: in the same payment files. |
| Income from sales of capital assets Capital expenditure on services | −£6.0bn | Netted | Subtracted, as above. |
| Accounting adjustments Capital expenditure on services | £10.8bn | Not counted | Mainly depreciation and VAT refunded within government: not payments to anyone, and outside the total here. |
| Accounting adjustments Capital expenditure on services | £132.5bn | Not counted | Mainly depreciation and VAT refunded within government: not payments to anyone, and outside the total here. |
The reasons that recur
Not published. A body has to publish its payments before they can be followed. Central government departments publish payments over £25,000 each month, NHS bodies the same, and English councils payments over £500. Northern Ireland departments, Welsh and Scottish councils and most smaller bodies publish less or nothing routinely.
Published, but not collected yet. Some files are only PDFs, some sit behind pages that refuse automated readers, some can't be found. These are listed on each section's page and are being collected by hand.
Collected, but the payee can't yet be identified. A payee named "ACME LTD" is counted as followed by name, but is only identified when it matches a registered company, charity or public body without doubt.
Passed on. When one public body pays another, the money is counted where the receiving body spends it. Following it twice would count it twice.
Accounting adjustments. Mainly depreciation and VAT refunded within government. They are part of total managed expenditure but are not payments to anyone, so they are left out of the total here. Why, in full.