The Local Authorities (Capital Finance and Accounting) (England) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2024

The Local Authorities (Capital Finance and Accounting) (England) Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/3146) (the “2003 Regulations”) make provision for capital finance and accounts under Part 1 of the Local Government Act 2003 (c. 26) (“the 2003 Act”). Regulation 25 of the 2003 Regulations provides for expenditure which is, and which is not, to be treated as capital expenditure for the purposes of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the 2003 Act. Since 2004, regulation 25 has excluded local authority investments in money market funds from treatment as capital expenditure in local authority accounts. Regulation 30K of the 2003 Regulations provides for specific accounting treatment for fair value gains and losses of local authority investments in pooled investment funds, including money market funds. Regulations 25 and 30K were amended by the Local Government (Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/1386) and the Local Authorities (Capital Finance and Accounting) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/396) to provide that investments in certain collective investment schemes (“UCITS”) were to be treated in the same way as money market funds for the purposes of regulations 25 and 30K.