North West · Unitary authority
Blackburn with Darwen · ONS E06000008
Financial position as at 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Compared only with unitary authority councils using central government returns.
Official annual outturn. Each line uses its own scale so direction remains easy to read.
Official DfT condition data, showing the share of each road class requiring maintenance investigation.
Official Defra measures for Blackburn with Darwen, with like-for-like comparison against unitary authorities.
Schools, pupil numbers and latest education outcomes across Blackburn with Darwen.
Published outcomes for pupils living in Blackburn with Darwen.
Latest published Progress 8 score, 2023/24.
A score of 0 represents the national average.Blackburn with Darwen's latest Key Stage 4 outcomes show a mixed picture when compared with North West and England.
House prices and affordability for Blackburn with Darwen, based on the earnings of local residents.
Typical private rental cost across all property types in Blackburn with Darwen.
Median house price as a multiple of median resident earnings. Lower is more affordable.
Quarterly planning decisions and the government's latest three-year Housing Delivery Test.
0.0 percentage points higher than 2025 Q4
Latest police-recorded crime figures for Blackburn with Darwen, excluding fraud.
Blackburn with Darwen has a recorded crime rate 5.9% below North West. It is 0.9% above the England rate.
Open schools, pupil numbers and the latest published Ofsted inspection position for Blackburn with Darwen.
These ratings apply only to schools whose latest full inspection remains under the previous Ofsted framework. Schools assessed under the renewed framework are shown separately above.
| School | Phase | Pupils | Capacity | Latest Ofsted position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashleigh Primary School URN 119200 · BB3 2JT | Primary | 220 | 236 | Ungraded inspection |
| Audley Infant School URN 119136 · BB1 1SE | Primary | 280 | 300 | Ungraded inspection |
| Audley Junior School URN 119115 · BB1 1SE | Primary | 392 | 420 | Ungraded inspection |
| Avondale Primary School URN 119294 · BB3 1NN | Primary | 400 | 420 | Ungraded inspection |
| Belthorn Academy Primary School URN 137512 · BB1 2NY | Primary | 238 | 210 | Ungraded inspection |
| Blackburn St Thomas' Church of England Primary School URN 119355 · BB1 1NE | Primary | 464 | 420 | Ungraded inspection |
| Blackburn the Redeemer CofE Primary URN 133987 · BB2 4JJ | Primary | 416 | 420 | Not judged |
| Brookhouse Primary School URN 119344 · BB1 6NY | Primary | 247 | 210 | Ungraded inspection |
Blackburn with Darwen's population grew over five years. Its change was broadly in line with the North West and 1.2 percentage points above England.
Life expectancy, early mortality, lifestyle and prevention measures from the Public Health Outcomes Framework.
Latest published life expectancy at birth, shown against the matching England figure.
Healthy life expectancy is considerably different from total life expectancy: it estimates how many years are expected to be lived in good health.
Age-standardised mortality rates and the latest published suicide rate.
Smoking, excess weight, physical activity and alcohol-related harm.
Child health, physical activity, vaccination and screening coverage.
Selected wider indicators that help describe health and wellbeing across the area.
People receiving Universal Credit and how the caseload has changed over the latest 24 months.
Comparison using 2024 resident population estimates.
Monthly caseload recorded on the DWP Universal Credit system.
Universal Credit provides financial support to people who are on a low income or out of work. These figures count people receiving Universal Credit, not households and not the number of people who are unemployed.
Long-term particulate pollution across the council area, alongside measurements from local UK-AIR monitoring stations.
PM2.5 · 2,024
This is a measurement from an individual monitoring station and should not be interpreted as the current concentration across the whole council area.
This OHID measure estimates the mortality burden associated with particulate air pollution. It is a health-impact measure, not a pollution concentration.
A licensed HMO register has not yet been located for this council. CouncilMetrics does not estimate HMO expenditure from broad housing or social-care descriptions.
Comparable official outturn for 2024/25, reported to central government.
Net current expenditure after service income.
Major financing lines in the central return.
General unallocated reserves during the year.
A point-in-time view of debt and liquid investments at the end of 2026/27 Q1.
2020/21 Q1 to 2026/27 Q1.
Net debt reduced during the latest quarter as the balance between borrowing and investments improved.
PWLB, other longer-term borrowing and short-term borrowing.
Council tax collection, outstanding arrears and write-offs reported to central government.
Outstanding arrears at each financial year-end.
Figures represent total outstanding council tax balances, including arrears carried forward from earlier years. Changes in council boundaries can affect historical comparisons.
Breakdown of outstanding balances at the end of 2025/26.
26.7% of outstanding arrears
73.3% of outstanding arrears
Earlier-years arrears represent unpaid council tax carried forward from previous financial years. These figures do not identify individual households or establish whether balances are recoverable.
England average: 95.60% · 0.35 percentage points below England
Outstanding arrears include unpaid balances from earlier financial years and are not the same as council tax uncollected during 2025/26. Monetary values are rounded for display. Official MHCLG source
| Contract | Supplier | Status | End date | Original value |
|---|
| Supplier | Payments | Published expenditure |
|---|
| Document | Dataset | Period | Status | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Housing Delivery Test 2025 results — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg housing delivery test | HDT 2025–HDT 2025 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG district planning application decisions (PS2) — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg planning ps2 | 1998 Q2–2026 Q1 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1) — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg planning ps1 | 1998 Q2–2026 Q1 | imported | Open |
| DfT road condition statistics — Blackburn with Darwen UA [note 7] | dft local road condition | 2007/08–2024/25 | imported | Open |
| Defra local authority waste statistics — Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council | defra local authority waste | 2010/11–2024/25 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2023/24 — Blackburn with Darwen UA | mhclg revenue outturn rsx | 2023/24 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2023/24 — Blackburn with Darwen UA | mhclg revenue outturn rs | 2023/24 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2022/23 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg revenue outturn rsx | 2022/23 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2022/23 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg revenue outturn rs | 2022/23 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2021/22 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg revenue outturn rsx | 2021/22 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2021/22 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg revenue outturn rs | 2021/22 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2020/21 — Blackburn with Darwen UA | mhclg revenue outturn rsx | 2020/21 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2020/21 — Blackburn with Darwen UA | mhclg revenue outturn rs | 2020/21 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q4 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg borrowing investment | 2025/26 Q4 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q3 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg borrowing investment | 2025/26 Q3 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q2 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg borrowing investment | 2025/26 Q2 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q1 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg borrowing investment | 2025/26 Q1 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q4 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg borrowing investment | 2024/25 Q4 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q3 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg borrowing investment | 2024/25 Q3 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q2 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg borrowing investment | 2024/25 Q2 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q1 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg borrowing investment | 2024/25 Q1 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q4 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg borrowing investment | 2023/24 Q4 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q3 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg borrowing investment | 2023/24 Q3 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q2 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg borrowing investment | 2023/24 Q2 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q1 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg borrowing investment | 2023/24 Q1 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q4 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg borrowing investment | 2022/23 Q4 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q3 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg borrowing investment | 2022/23 Q3 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q2 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg borrowing investment | 2022/23 Q2 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q1 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg borrowing investment | 2022/23 Q1 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q4 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg borrowing investment | 2021/22 Q4 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q3 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg borrowing investment | 2021/22 Q3 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q2 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg borrowing investment | 2021/22 Q2 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q1 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg borrowing investment | 2021/22 Q1 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q4 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg borrowing investment | 2020/21 Q4 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q3 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg borrowing investment | 2020/21 Q3 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q2 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg borrowing investment | 2020/21 Q2 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q1 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg borrowing investment | 2020/21 Q1 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2026/27 Q1 — Blackburn with Darwen | mhclg borrowing investment | 2026/27 Q1 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2024/25 — Blackburn with Darwen UA | mhclg revenue outturn rsx | 2024/25 | imported | Open |
| MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2024/25 — Blackburn with Darwen UA | mhclg revenue outturn rs | 2024/25 | imported | Open |
Budget summaries and financial positions retain the reporting year and assurance status of their original source. Draft or unaudited values are labelled separately from audited outturn figures. The Financial Health Score uses reserves cover, net debt per resident, liquidity and quarterly debt direction from central MHCLG returns. Each component is converted to a percentile among councils of the same authority type; available components are weighted 35%, 30%, 20% and 15% respectively. A score is published only when at least three components covering 65% of the weighting are available. It is a comparative financial indicator, not an assessment of service quality or political performance.