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Overview

East of England · Non-metropolitan district

Castle Point

2026/27 view

Castle Point · ONS E07000069

Financial position as at 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

View sources
COUNCIL AT A GLANCE

Who runs the council and its current position

66/ 100
COUNCILMETRICS FINANCIAL HEALTH SCORE

Good

Compared only with non-metropolitan district councils using central government returns.

164 councils in peer group Rank 47 of 164 High confidence 2024/25 outturn · 2026/27 Q1 debt How this is calculated
Reserves cover75
Debt burden55
Liquidity66
Debt direction66
YEAR-ON-YEAR CONTEXT Change from the previous reported period Each measure uses its own official reporting timetable.
Net debt £5.75m 2026/27 Q1 vs 2025/26 Q4
−£541.0k 8.6%
Service expenditure £12.96m 2024/25 vs 2023/24
+£489.0k 3.9%
Unallocated reserves £5.76m 2024/25 vs 2023/24
+£418.0k 7.8%
FIVE-YEAR FINANCIAL TREND

How this council's finances have changed

Official annual outturn. Each line uses its own scale so direction remains easy to read.

Through 2024/25
Service expenditure £12.96m
2.9%
2020/21: £12.60m 2021/22: £8.96m 2022/23: £5.48m 2023/24: £12.47m 2024/25: £12.96m
Net revenue expenditure £14.21m
11.8%
2020/21: £12.71m 2021/22: £6.29m 2022/23: £4.22m 2023/24: £11.26m 2024/25: £14.21m
Council Tax requirement £9.14m
8.8%
2020/21: £8.40m 2021/22: £8.56m 2022/23: £8.80m 2023/24: £9.08m 2024/25: £9.14m
Unallocated reserves £5.76m
2.9%
2020/21: £5.60m 2021/22: £5.60m 2022/23: £5.89m 2023/24: £5.34m 2024/25: £5.76m
COUNCILMETRICS COMMUNITY SCORE Share your experience 0 of 25 responses collected before results are published
Score this council
Political controlNot yet recordedAdministration not identified
Council leaderNot identifiedParty not identified
Resident population90,5812024 estimate
Latest net debt£5.75m2026/27 Q1 quarter end
WASTE & RECYCLING

What happens to household waste?

Official Defra measures for Castle Point, with like-for-like comparison against collection authorities.

2024/25
44.9%recycled
Household recycling rate

Recycling rate fell

2.5 percentage points vs 2023/24
66 of 196 peer authorities Peer median 42.1%
Residual waste469.0 kgper household+29.8 kg year on year
Waste collected372.5 kgper resident+5.7 kg year on year
Household waste33,744tonnes collected15,159 tonnes recycled
WHERE HOUSEHOLD WASTE WENT

Recycled versus residual waste

15,159 t recycled, composted or reused 18,585 t not recycled
RECYCLING RATE TREND

10 years of official data

44.9%
2015/16: 47.5%2016/17: 48.9%2017/18: 48.6%2018/19: 49.0%2019/20: 50.9%2020/21: 48.0%2021/22: 47.6%2022/23: 46.5%2023/24: 47.4%2024/25: 44.9%
2015/162024/25
Official Defra waste statistics · Annual local-authority return · Figures may not sum exactly because of published rounding.View source
EDUCATION

Schools and education

Schools, pupil numbers and latest education outcomes across Castle Point.

2024/25
SCHOOLS & PUPILS

Education at a glance

Explore schools
33 Open schools
12,631 Pupils
13,961 School places
90.5% Capacity utilisation
ATTAINMENT & OUTCOMES

Key Stage 4

Published outcomes for pupils living in Castle Point.

Attainment 8
40.6
East of England 46.2
England 46.1
5.5 points below England
English & maths grade 5+
30.9%
East of England 45.9%
England 45.4%
14.5 percentage points below England
EBacc entry
33.6%
East of England 40.0%
England 40.5%
6.9 percentage points below England
PROGRESS

Progress 8

-0.45

Latest published Progress 8 score, 2023/24.

A score of 0 represents the national average.
TREND

Attainment 8 over time

45.5 18/19
47.4 19/20
48.2 20/21
45.9 21/22
44.7 22/23
42.2 23/24
40.6 24/25
Education context

Castle Point's latest Key Stage 4 outcomes are below both East of England and England benchmarks across all three headline measures.

Department for Education · Key Stage 4 performance · Pupil residency
HOUSING & AFFORDABILITY

Housing costs and local earnings

House prices and affordability for Castle Point, based on the earnings of local residents.

2025
Median house price
£360,000
+ 19.0% over five years
Median resident earnings
£41,745
+ 22.8% over five years
House price to earnings
8.62×
Improved from 8.90× five years ago
PRIVATE RENTING

Average monthly private rent

Typical private rental cost across all property types in Castle Point.

£1,257 / month
+ 4.8% in the last year
July 2026
Castle Point
£1,257
+ 4.8%
East of England
£1,285
+ 3.7%
England
£1,451
+ 3.8%
Compared with East of England £28 less per month
Compared with England £194 less per month
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Housing affordability

Median house price as a multiple of median resident earnings. Lower is more affordable.

Castle Point
8.62×
East of England
8.52×
England
7.64×
Compared with East of England Less affordable
Compared with England Less affordable
Source: Office for National Statistics · Housing affordability in England and Wales · House prices year ending September · Residence-based earnings
PLANNING & HOUSING DELIVERY

Is development moving through the system?

Quarterly planning decisions and the government's latest three-year Housing Delivery Test.

2026 Q1
Applications received96this quarter+11 vs 2025 Q4
Applications decided68this quarter−24 vs 2025 Q4
Outstanding applications—at quarter end
86.8%approved
Overall approval rate59 granted9 refused+5.2 pts vs previous quarter
DECISION TIMELINESS

Decisions made within time

100.0%
Rank 1 of 294 reporting authoritiesNational median 92.5%

0.0 percentage points higher than 2025 Q4

APPLICATION MIX

Performance by development type

TypeDecisionsApprovedIn time Major333.3%100.0% Minor1172.7%100.0% Other5492.6%100.0%
QUARTERLY FLOW

Applications through the system

Last 8 quarters
2024 Q2: 1082024 Q3: 992024 Q4: 872025 Q1: 1472025 Q2: 1142025 Q3: 992025 Q4: 852026 Q1: 962024 Q2: 962024 Q3: 1252024 Q4: 912025 Q1: 1122025 Q2: 1342025 Q3: 912025 Q4: 922026 Q1: 68
2024 Q2
Received Decided Outstanding
2026 Q1
HOUSING DELIVERY TEST

Homes delivered against requirement

11%
Required1,052homes over three years
Delivered119homes over three years
100% requirement
Presumption in favourHDT 2025 government assessment
CRIME & POLICING

Police-recorded crime

Latest police-recorded crime figures for Castle Point, excluding fraud.

Year ending Mar 2026
Recorded offences 4,718 Total police-recorded crime excluding fraud
Crime rate 52.1 offences per 1,000 residents
Annual change − 2.5% compared with the previous year
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Recorded crime rate

Offences per 1,000 residents
Castle Point Your council
52.1 − 2.5%
East of England Region
68.4 − 0.1%
England National
83.4 − 1.5%

Castle Point has a recorded crime rate 23.9% below East of England. It is 37.6% below the England rate.

OFFENCE PROFILE

Recorded crime by category

Essex
Violence 2,134
23.6 per 1,000 + 7.3%
Theft 1,079
11.9 per 1,000 − 28.6%
Public order 346
3.8 per 1,000 + 12.3%
Criminal damage 529
5.8 per 1,000 + 8.0%
Shoplifting 302
3.3 per 1,000 − 49.1%
Vehicle offences 221
2.4 per 1,000 − 41.2%
Burglary 187
2.1 per 1,000 + 18.4%
Drug offences 192
2.1 per 1,000 + 25.5%
ONS / Home Office · Police-recorded crime · Community Safety Partnership data
SCHOOLS & OFSTED

Schools and inspection outcomes

Open schools, pupil numbers and the latest published Ofsted inspection position for Castle Point.

33 schools
Open schools 33
Pupils 12,631
School places 13,961
Capacity used 90.5%
Primary 23 schools
6,796 pupils
Secondary 5 schools
5,381 pupils
Other / specialist 4 schools
454 pupils
16+ provision 1 school
0 pupils
CURRENT POSITION

Inspection coverage

Latest Ofsted management information
Renewed framework 2
6.1% of open schools
Previous full framework 17
51.5% of open schools
Ungraded inspection 11
33.3% of open schools
No Ofsted record 3
9.1% of open schools
RENEWED FRAMEWORK

Latest inspection standards

2 schools assessed
Achievement 2 assessed
Expected standard 2
Attendance & behaviour 2 assessed
Expected standard 1
Strong standard 1
Curriculum & teaching 2 assessed
Expected standard 1
Strong standard 1
Inclusion 2 assessed
Expected standard 1
Strong standard 1
Leadership & governance 2 assessed
Expected standard 1
Strong standard 1
Personal development 2 assessed
Expected standard 1
Strong standard 1
Safeguarding 2 assessed
Met 2
PREVIOUS FRAMEWORK

Legacy Ofsted ratings

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.

Outstanding 1
Good 10
Requires improvement 2
Inadequate 1
Not judged 3
LOCAL SCHOOLS

School directory

View all schools
School Phase Pupils Capacity Latest Ofsted position
Canvey Island Infant School and Nursery URN 114980 · SS8 0JG Primary 216 210 Ungraded inspection
Canvey Primary School and Nursery URN 114822 · SS8 0JG Primary 239 450 Good
Hadleigh Infant and Nursery School URN 137027 · SS7 2HQ Primary 302 348 Ungraded inspection
Hadleigh Junior School URN 145548 · SS7 2DQ Primary 357 360 Not judged
Holy Family Catholic Primary School URN 145995 · SS7 5PX Primary 216 232 Good
Jotmans Hall Primary School URN 137247 · SS7 5RG Primary 304 315 Requires improvement
Kents Hill Infant Academy URN 137395 · SS7 5PS Primary 239 238 Good
Kents Hill Junior School URN 137631 · SS7 5PS Primary 343 360 Ungraded inspection
School information: Get Information about Schools (GIAS). Inspection information: Ofsted monthly management information. Inspection frameworks differ over time, so renewed-framework standards and previous overall effectiveness grades are shown separately.
Published expenditure£0.00No spending file imported
Revenue budget£0.00Not imported
Reported overspend£0.00Not imported outturn
Contracts00 active
Identified suppliers0Normalised entities
PEOPLE AND PLACE

Population snapshot

View full People profile
Population 90,581 2024
East of England region 6,576,306
Castle Point represents 1.38% of the region's population
Five-year population change
+962 residents ↑ 1.1%
2019: 89,619 residents2020: 89,782 residents2021: 89,712 residents2022: 89,779 residents2023: 90,140 residents2024: 90,581 residents
Castle Point +1.1%
East of England +4.8%
England +4.3%
Growth context

Castle Point's population grew over five years. Its change was 3.7 percentage points below the East of England and 3.2 percentage points below England.

2019–2024 ONS mid-year estimates
Population estimates and labour-market measures from ONS/Nomis.Official profile
BENEFITS & FINANCIAL PRESSURE

How is Universal Credit changing in Castle Point?

People receiving Universal Credit and how the caseload has changed over the latest 24 months.

DWP · May 2026
PEOPLE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT 7,593 8.4% of the 2024 resident population May 2026
CHANGE IN 12 MONTHS +6.0% +431 people
LATEST MONTHLY CHANGE +0.5% +35 since April 2026
LOCAL CONTEXT

Universal Credit recipients as a share of population

Comparison using 2024 resident population estimates.

May 2026
Castle Point LOCAL AUTHORITY
8.4%
East of England REGION
10.3%
England COUNTRY
12.3%
Percentage of the resident population receiving Universal Credit. This is not an unemployment rate.
24-MONTH TREND

People receiving Universal Credit

Monthly caseload recorded on the DWP Universal Credit system.

June 2024 May 2026
7,637 6,988 6,339
June 2024 May 2026
What does this measure?

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.

DWP Stat-Xplore
HOUSING LICENSING

HMOs and property licensing

Coverage not assessedNational HMO explorer
Licensed HMOsAwaiting registerOnly licensed properties will be counted
Register accessNot assessedNo register record available
Identifiable HMO expenditureNot identifiableNot separately described in published transactions
Inspection and enforcement dataAwaiting dataNo activity source imported yet
Coverage note

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.

FINANCE

How this council raises and spends money

Comparable official outturn for 2024/25, reported to central government.

MHCLG official outturn
Total service expenditure
£12.96m 2024/25 actual outturn
Net revenue expenditure
£14.21m 2024/25 actual outturn
Council Tax requirement
£9.14m 2024/25 actual outturn
Unallocated reserves
£5.76m 2024/25 actual outturn
Service expenditure per resident £143
Median for councils of the same type £166 13.5% below peer median
2024/25 SERVICE SPENDING

Where the money was spent

Net current expenditure after service income.

Actual outturn
Environmental and regulatory services Gross £9.45m · Income £5.90m
£3.55m
Central services Gross £12.44m · Income £9.18m
£3.26m
Housing Gross £4.56m · Income £1.69m
£2.88m
Culture and related services Gross £7.96m · Income £6.26m
£1.70m
Planning and development Gross £4.12m · Income £2.81m
£1.30m
Highways and transport Gross £2.16m · Income £1.46m
£699.0k
Other services Gross £0.00 · Income £421.0k
£-421.0k
CORE FUNDING

Selected funding sources

Major financing lines in the central return.

Council Tax requirement£9.14m
Retained business rates£4.41m
Revenue Support Grant£92.0k
UNALLOCATED RESERVES

Financial buffer

General unallocated reserves during the year.

Opening £5.33m
Closing £5.76m
£423.0k increase during 2024/25
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government · Revenue Outturn RS and RSX · values shown in pounds Official dataset
BORROWING AND INVESTMENTS

Balance-sheet position

A point-in-time view of debt and liquid investments at the end of 2026/27 Q1.

MHCLG quarterly return
Outstanding borrowing
£31.15m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Investments and cash
£25.40m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Net debt
£5.75m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Net debt per resident
£64 Per resident using latest population
This council's net debt per resident £64
Median for non-metropolitan district councils £95 33.3% lower than the peer median
QUARTERLY TREND

Borrowing, investments and net debt

2020/21 Q1 to 2026/27 Q1.

£541.0k quarterly reduction
2020/21 Q12021/22 Q32023/24 Q12024/25 Q32026/27 Q1
Latest quarterly movement −£541.0k −8.6%
Change across the series −£11.54m Net debt since 2020/21 Q1
What changed?

Net debt reduced during the latest quarter as the balance between borrowing and investments improved.

BORROWING COMPOSITION

Where the borrowing sits

PWLB, other longer-term borrowing and short-term borrowing.

2026/27 Q1
Public Works Loan Board£30.15m
Other longer-term borrowing£1.00m
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment live table · 2026/27 Q1 · values shown in pounds Official dataset
COUNCIL TAX & COLLECTION

How much council tax remains unpaid?

Council tax collection, outstanding arrears and write-offs reported to central government.

MHCLG 2025/26
Outstanding arrears
£6.41m Total outstanding at financial year-end
Collection rate
97.88% Collected against the in-year debit
Council tax written off
£373,000 Written off during the financial year
Council tax collected
£69.43m Receipts relating to the financial year
FIVE-YEAR TREND

How has unpaid council tax changed?

Outstanding arrears at each financial year-end.

2021/22–2025/26
OUTSTANDING ARREARS 2025/26
£6.41m
CHANGE SINCE 2021/22
+ 3.6%
+ £223,000
ENGLAND CHANGE
+49.5%
£6.18m 2021/22 £6.93m 2022/23 £7.11m 2023/24 £6.80m 2024/25 £6.41m 2025/26

Figures represent total outstanding council tax balances, including arrears carried forward from earlier years. Changes in council boundaries can affect historical comparisons.

OUTSTANDING ARREARS

Where does the unpaid council tax come from?

Breakdown of outstanding balances at the end of 2025/26.

£6.41m outstanding
CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR £1.68m

26.3% of outstanding arrears

EARLIER FINANCIAL YEARS £4.72m

73.7% of outstanding arrears

Current-year arrears Earlier-years 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.

COLLECTION PERFORMANCE

How does this council compare?

England 2025/26
In-year collection rate 97.88%

England average: 95.60%  ·  2.27 percentage points above 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

SPENDING

Published directorate expenditure

Explore all 0 records
CONTRACTS

Largest contracts

Explore all 0 contracts
ContractSupplierStatusEnd dateOriginal value
SUPPLIERS

Largest supplier exposure

Dated transactions
SupplierPaymentsPublished expenditure
PROVENANCE

Source documents

39 imported
DocumentDatasetPeriodStatusOfficial source
Housing Delivery Test 2025 results — Castle Pointmhclg housing delivery testHDT 2025–HDT 2025importedOpen
MHCLG district planning application decisions (PS2) — Castle Pointmhclg planning ps21979 Q2–2026 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1) — Castle Pointmhclg planning ps11996 Q2–2026 Q1importedOpen
Defra local authority waste statistics — Castle Point Borough Councildefra local authority waste2010/11–2024/25importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2023/24 — Castle Pointmhclg revenue outturn rsx2023/24importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2023/24 — Castle Pointmhclg revenue outturn rs2023/24importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2022/23 — Castle Pointmhclg revenue outturn rsx2022/23importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2022/23 — Castle Pointmhclg revenue outturn rs2022/23importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2021/22 — Castle Pointmhclg revenue outturn rsx2021/22importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2021/22 — Castle Pointmhclg revenue outturn rs2021/22importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2020/21 — Castle Pointmhclg revenue outturn rsx2020/21importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2020/21 — Castle Pointmhclg revenue outturn rs2020/21importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q4 — Castle Pointmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q3 — Castle Pointmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q2 — Castle Pointmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q1 — Castle Pointmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q4 — Castle Pointmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q3 — Castle Pointmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q2 — Castle Pointmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q1 — Castle Pointmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q4 — Castle Pointmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q3 — Castle Pointmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q2 — Castle Pointmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q1 — Castle Pointmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q4 — Castle Pointmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q3 — Castle Pointmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q2 — Castle Pointmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q1 — Castle Pointmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q4 — Castle Pointmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q3 — Castle Pointmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q2 — Castle Pointmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q1 — Castle Pointmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q4 — Castle Pointmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q3 — Castle Pointmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q2 — Castle Pointmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q1 — Castle Pointmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2026/27 Q1 — Castle Pointmhclg borrowing investment2026/27 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2024/25 — Castle Pointmhclg revenue outturn rsx2024/25importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2024/25 — Castle Pointmhclg revenue outturn rs2024/25importedOpen
How to read these figures and the Financial Health Score

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.