ABSTRACT
Each local authority is given a credit limit in the form of basic credit approvals (BCAs) for the year. This includes both borrowing and any other credit arrangements such as leaseback arrangements. A local authority may also be allocated supplementary credit approvals (SCAs) for special projects and one-off items of expenditure. SCAs are usually allocated on the basis of specific bids for projects. For example, SCAs might be allocated to fund cash incentive schemes offering tenants a cash sum to buy a property in the private sector. It is not unusual for a local authority’s SCAs to exceed its BCAs, especially since the introduction of the Capital receipts initiative (see below).
