South West · Non-metropolitan district

Gloucester

2026/27 view

Gloucester · ONS E07000081

Financial position as at 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

View sources

COUNCIL AT A GLANCE

Who runs the council and its current position

8/ 100

COUNCILMETRICS FINANCIAL HEALTH SCORE

Significant pressure

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

164 councils in peer group Rank 164 of 164 High confidence 2024/25 outturn · 2026/27 Q1 debt How this is calculated

Reserves cover6

Debt burden7

Liquidity6

Debt direction20

YEAR-ON-YEAR CONTEXT Change from the previous reported period Each measure uses its own official reporting timetable.

Net debt £261.65m 2026/27 Q1 vs 2025/26 Q4

+£15.78m 6.4%

Service expenditure £13.89m 2024/25 vs 2023/24

−£1.36m 8.9%

Unallocated reserves £132.0k 2024/25 vs 2023/24

−£429.0k 76.5%

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 £13.89m

8.9%

Net revenue expenditure £18.07m

0.9%

Council Tax requirement £9.34m

14.0%

Unallocated reserves £132.0k

90.4%

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 population138,5982024 estimate

Latest net debt£261.65m2026/27 Q1 quarter end

WASTE & RECYCLING

What happens to household waste?

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

2024/25

40.8%recycled

Household recycling rate

Recycling rate fell

1.2 percentage points vs 2023/24

109 of 196 peer authorities Peer median 42.1%

Residual waste445.2 kgper household+5.2 kg year on year

Waste collected322.9 kgper resident−9.6 kg year on year

Household waste45,214tonnes collected18,444 tonnes recycled

WHERE HOUSEHOLD WASTE WENT

Recycled versus residual waste

18,444 t recycled, composted or reused 26,770 t not recycled

RECYCLING RATE TREND

10 years of official data

40.8%

2015/162024/25

EDUCATION

Schools and education

Schools, pupil numbers and latest education outcomes across Gloucester.

2024/25

SCHOOLS & PUPILS

Education at a glance

Explore schools

51 Open schools

23,371 Pupils

24,523 School places

95.3% Capacity utilisation

ATTAINMENT & OUTCOMES

Key Stage 4

Published outcomes for pupils living in Gloucester.

Attainment 8

46.1

South West 46.2

England 46.1

In line with England

English & maths grade 5+

46.4%

South West 46.2%

England 45.4%

1.0 percentage points above England

EBacc entry

22.2%

South West 33.0%

England 40.5%

18.3 percentage points below England

PROGRESS

Progress 8

0.01

Latest published Progress 8 score, 2023/24.

A score of 0 represents the national average.

TREND

Attainment 8 over time

44.8 18/19

49.1 19/20

50.7 20/21

50.1 21/22

46.7 22/23

47.0 23/24

46.1 24/25

Education context

Gloucester's latest Key Stage 4 outcomes show a mixed picture when compared with South West and England.

Department for Education · Key Stage 4 performance · Pupil residency

HOUSING & AFFORDABILITY

Housing costs and local earnings

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

2025

Median house price

£250,000

+ 19.0% over five years

Median resident earnings

£34,617

+ 25.9% over five years

House price to earnings

7.22×

Improved from 7.64× five years ago

PRIVATE RENTING

Average monthly private rent

Typical private rental cost across all property types in Gloucester.

£1,112 / month

+ 7.4% in the last year

July 2026

Gloucester

£1,112

+ 7.4%

South West

£1,236

+ 4.5%

England

£1,451

+ 3.8%

Compared with South West £124 less per month

Compared with England £339 less per month

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Housing affordability

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

Gloucester

7.22×

South West

8.26×

England

7.64×

Compared with South West More affordable

Compared with England More 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 received113this quarter+11 vs 2025 Q4

Applications decided100this quarter−6 vs 2025 Q4

Outstanding applications—at quarter end

77.0%approved

Overall approval rate77 granted23 refused−2.3 pts vs previous quarter

DECISION TIMELINESS

Decisions made within time

91.0%

Rank 178 of 294 reporting authoritiesNational median 92.5%

1.4 percentage points higher than 2025 Q4

APPLICATION MIX

Performance by development type

TypeDecisionsApprovedIn time Major0—— Minor2673.1%80.8% Other7478.4%94.6%

QUARTERLY FLOW

Applications through the system

Last 8 quarters

HOUSING DELIVERY TEST

Homes delivered against requirement

63%

Required2,014homes over three years

Delivered1,278homes over three years

100% requirement

Presumption in favourHDT 2025 government assessment

CRIME & POLICING

Police-recorded crime

Latest police-recorded crime figures for Gloucester, excluding fraud.

Year ending Mar 2026

Recorded offences 14,873 Total police-recorded crime excluding fraud

Crime rate 107.3 offences per 1,000 residents

Annual change − 2.6% compared with the previous year

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Recorded crime rate

Offences per 1,000 residents

Gloucester Your council

107.3 − 2.6%

South West Region

73.5 + 1.3%

England National

83.4 − 1.5%

Gloucester has a recorded crime rate 46.0% above South West. It is 28.6% above the England rate.

OFFENCE PROFILE

Recorded crime by category

Gloucestershire

Violence 6,098

44.0 per 1,000 − 6.7%

Theft 4,392

31.7 per 1,000 + 2.4%

Public order 1,445

10.4 per 1,000 − 9.2%

Criminal damage 1,041

7.5 per 1,000 − 1.7%

Shoplifting 1,762

12.7 per 1,000 − 7.5%

Vehicle offences 647

4.7 per 1,000 + 58.6%

Burglary 564

4.1 per 1,000 − 11.3%

Drug offences 435

3.1 per 1,000 − 5.8%

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 Gloucester.

51 schools

Open schools 51

Pupils 23,371

School places 24,523

Capacity used 95.3%

Primary 34 schools

11,275 pupils

Secondary 9 schools

10,537 pupils

Other / specialist 7 schools

1,559 pupils

16+ provision 1 school

0 pupils

CURRENT POSITION

Inspection coverage

Latest Ofsted management information

Renewed framework 6

11.8% of open schools

Previous full framework 27

52.9% of open schools

Ungraded inspection 10

19.6% of open schools

No Ofsted record 7

13.7% of open schools

No published outcome 1

2.0% of open schools

RENEWED FRAMEWORK

Latest inspection standards

6 schools assessed

Achievement 6 assessed

Strong standard 3

Expected standard 2

Needs attention 1

Attendance & behaviour 6 assessed

Strong standard 4

Expected standard 2

Curriculum & teaching 6 assessed

Strong standard 3

Expected standard 2

Needs attention 1

Inclusion 6 assessed

Strong standard 4

Expected standard 1

Needs attention 1

Leadership & governance 6 assessed

Strong standard 3

Expected standard 2

Needs attention 1

Personal development 6 assessed

Strong standard 4

Expected standard 2

Safeguarding 6 assessed

Met 6

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 2

Good 14

Requires improvement 4

Not judged 7

LOCAL SCHOOLS

School directory

View all schools

School	Phase	Pupils	Capacity	Latest Ofsted position
Abbeymead Primary School URN 115601 · GL4 5YS	Primary	421	420	Outstanding
Barnwood Church of England Primary School URN 115714 · GL4 3JP	Primary	177	210	Good
Beech Green Primary School URN 115600 · GL2 4WD	Primary	320	420	Requires improvement
Calton Primary School URN 150931 · GL1 5ET	Primary	508	630	Requires improvement
Clearwater Church of England Primary Academy URN 143712 · GL2 4GH	Primary	332	464	Renewed framework
Coney Hill Community Primary School URN 115603 · GL4 4NA	Primary	241	210	Good
Dinglewell Infant School URN 115499 · GL3 3HS	Primary	226	270	Ungraded inspection
Dinglewell Junior School URN 115495 · GL3 3HS	Primary	359	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 138,598 2024

South West region 5,889,695

Five-year population change

+6,822 residents ↑ 5.2%

Gloucester +5.2%

South West +4.4%

England +4.3%

Growth context

Gloucester's population grew over five years. Its change was 0.8 percentage points above the South West and 0.9 percentage points above 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 Gloucester?

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

DWP · May 2026

PEOPLE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT 16,710 12.1% of the 2024 resident population May 2026

CHANGE IN 12 MONTHS +7.3% +1,143 people

LATEST MONTHLY CHANGE +0.5% +81 since April 2026

LOCAL CONTEXT

Universal Credit recipients as a share of population

Comparison using 2024 resident population estimates.

May 2026

Gloucester LOCAL AUTHORITY

12.1%

South West REGION

10.0%

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

16,874 15,572 14,270

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

AIR QUALITY

How clean is the air?

Long-term particulate pollution across the council area, alongside measurements from local UK-AIR monitoring stations.

POPULATION-WEIGHTED ANNUAL MEAN

Fine particulate matter

No annual PM2.5 estimate is currently available.

LONG-TERM TREND

PM2.5 over time

Not enough annual data is available to show a trend.

CURRENT MONITORING

Latest station measurement

UK-AIR

PM2.5 4.9 µg/m³

Provisional

Last 24 hours 2.6 – 9.5 µg/m³

Gloucester Tredworth Automatic Urban and Rural Monitoring Network (AURN) · Urban Background Latest measurement: 2026-09-23 01:00:00+01

This is a measurement from an individual monitoring station and should not be interpreted as the current concentration across the whole council area.

HEALTH IMPACT

Particulate air pollution

No current OHID particulate-air-pollution mortality estimate is available.

Annual PM2.5 is Defra Pollution Climate Mapping data. Monitoring readings are station-specific UK-AIR measurements and may be provisional.

HOUSING LICENSING

HMOs and property licensing

Coverage not assessedNational HMO explorer

Licensed HMOsAwaiting registerOnly licensed properties will be counted

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

£13.89m 2024/25 actual outturn

Net revenue expenditure

£18.07m 2024/25 actual outturn

Council Tax requirement

£9.34m 2024/25 actual outturn

Unallocated reserves

£132.0k 2024/25 actual outturn

Service expenditure per resident £100

Median for councils of the same type £166 39.5% 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 £15.71m · Income £8.15m

£7.56m

Central services Gross £5.94m · Income £770.0k

£5.17m

Culture and related services Gross £6.13m · Income £2.59m

£3.54m

Housing Gross £7.24m · Income £4.96m

£2.29m

Highways and transport Gross £1.42m · Income £2.81m

£-1.39m

Planning and development Gross £4.45m · Income £7.73m

£-3.28m

CORE FUNDING

Selected funding sources

Major financing lines in the central return.

Council Tax requirement£9.34m

Retained business rates£7.74m

Revenue Support Grant£274.0k

UNALLOCATED RESERVES

Financial buffer

General unallocated reserves during the year.

Opening £394.0k

Closing £132.0k

£262.0k decrease 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

£272.67m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Investments and cash

£11.02m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Net debt

£261.65m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Net debt per resident

£1,888 Per resident using latest population

This council's net debt per resident £1,888

Median for non-metropolitan district councils £95 1,882.7% higher than the peer median

QUARTERLY TREND

Borrowing, investments and net debt

2020/21 Q1 to 2026/27 Q1.

£15.78m quarterly increase

2020/21 Q12021/22 Q32023/24 Q12024/25 Q32026/27 Q1

Latest quarterly movement +£15.78m +6.4%

Change across the series +£169.26m Net debt since 2020/21 Q1

What changed?

Net debt increased during the quarter, with higher outstanding borrowing contributing to the movement.

BORROWING COMPOSITION

Where the borrowing sits

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

2026/27 Q1

Public Works Loan Board£160.67m

Short-term borrowing£112.00m

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

£13.16m Total outstanding at financial year-end

Collection rate

96.48% Collected against the in-year debit

Council tax written off

£315,000 Written off during the financial year

Council tax collected

£87.76m 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

£13.16m

CHANGE SINCE 2021/22

+ 46.1%

+ £4.15m

ENGLAND CHANGE

+49.5%

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.

£13.16m outstanding

CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR £3.32m

25.2% of outstanding arrears

EARLIER FINANCIAL YEARS £9.84m

74.8% 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 96.48%

England average: 95.60% · 0.88 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

Contract	Supplier	Status	End date	Original value

SUPPLIERS

Largest supplier exposure

Dated transactions

Supplier	Payments	Published expenditure

PROVENANCE

Source documents

39 imported

Document	Dataset	Period	Status	Official source
Housing Delivery Test 2025 results — Gloucester	mhclg housing delivery test	HDT 2025–HDT 2025	imported	Open
MHCLG district planning application decisions (PS2) — Gloucester	mhclg planning ps2	1979 Q2–2026 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1) — Gloucester	mhclg planning ps1	1996 Q2–2026 Q1	imported	Open
Defra local authority waste statistics — Gloucester City Council	defra local authority waste	2010/11–2024/25	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2023/24 — Gloucester	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2023/24	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2023/24 — Gloucester	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2023/24	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2022/23 — Gloucester	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2022/23	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2022/23 — Gloucester	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2022/23	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2021/22 — Gloucester	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2021/22	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2021/22 — Gloucester	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2021/22	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2020/21 — Gloucester	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2020/21	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2020/21 — Gloucester	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2020/21	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q4 — Gloucester	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q3 — Gloucester	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q2 — Gloucester	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q1 — Gloucester	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q4 — Gloucester	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q3 — Gloucester	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q2 — Gloucester	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q1 — Gloucester	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q4 — Gloucester	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q3 — Gloucester	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q2 — Gloucester	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q1 — Gloucester	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q4 — Gloucester	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q3 — Gloucester	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q2 — Gloucester	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q1 — Gloucester	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q4 — Gloucester	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q3 — Gloucester	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q2 — Gloucester	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q1 — Gloucester	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q4 — Gloucester	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q3 — Gloucester	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q2 — Gloucester	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q1 — Gloucester	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2026/27 Q1 — Gloucester	mhclg borrowing investment	2026/27 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2024/25 — Gloucester	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2024/25	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2024/25 — Gloucester	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2024/25	imported	Open

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.