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Overview

East of England · Non-metropolitan district

Ipswich

2026/27 view

Ipswich · ONS E07000202

Financial position as at 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

View sources
COUNCIL AT A GLANCE

Who runs the council and its current position

23/ 100
COUNCILMETRICS FINANCIAL HEALTH SCORE

Significant pressure

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

164 councils in peer group Rank 149 of 164 High confidence 2024/25 outturn · 2026/27 Q1 debt How this is calculated
Reserves cover46
Debt burden9
Liquidity3
Debt direction22
YEAR-ON-YEAR CONTEXT Change from the previous reported period Each measure uses its own official reporting timetable.
Net debt £238.02m 2026/27 Q1 vs 2025/26 Q4
+£9.89m 4.3%
Service expenditure £28.94m 2024/25 vs 2023/24
+£2.58m 9.8%
Unallocated reserves £5.54m 2024/25 vs 2023/24
−£733.0k 11.7%
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 £28.94m
2.1%
2020/21: £29.56m 2021/22: £22.16m 2022/23: £27.84m 2023/24: £26.36m 2024/25: £28.94m
Net revenue expenditure £28.69m
12.7%
2020/21: £25.46m 2021/22: £17.68m 2022/23: £24.13m 2023/24: £23.22m 2024/25: £28.69m
Council Tax requirement £16.08m
12.0%
2020/21: £14.35m 2021/22: £14.47m 2022/23: £14.95m 2023/24: £15.49m 2024/25: £16.08m
Unallocated reserves £5.54m
15.9%
2020/21: £6.58m 2021/22: £6.46m 2022/23: £7.29m 2023/24: £6.27m 2024/25: £5.54m
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 population140,2742024 estimate
Latest net debt£238.02m2026/27 Q1 quarter end
WASTE & RECYCLING

What happens to household waste?

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

2024/25
33.5%recycled
Household recycling rate

Recycling rate fell

0.2 percentage points vs 2023/24
154 of 196 peer authorities Peer median 42.1%
Residual waste537.1 kgper household−20.0 kg year on year
Waste collected359.5 kgper resident−15.6 kg year on year
Household waste50,422tonnes collected16,900 tonnes recycled
WHERE HOUSEHOLD WASTE WENT

Recycled versus residual waste

16,900 t recycled, composted or reused 33,523 t not recycled
RECYCLING RATE TREND

10 years of official data

33.5%
2015/16: 40.8%2016/17: 40.0%2017/18: 38.0%2018/19: 37.1%2019/20: 35.1%2020/21: 33.0%2021/22: 32.8%2022/23: 31.4%2023/24: 33.7%2024/25: 33.5%
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 Ipswich.

2024/25
SCHOOLS & PUPILS

Education at a glance

Explore schools
56 Open schools
22,435 Pupils
24,402 School places
91.9% Capacity utilisation
ATTAINMENT & OUTCOMES

Key Stage 4

Published outcomes for pupils living in Ipswich.

Attainment 8
41.1
East of England 46.2
England 46.1
5.0 points below England
English & maths grade 5+
36.7%
East of England 45.9%
England 45.4%
8.7 percentage points below England
EBacc entry
20.2%
East of England 40.0%
England 40.5%
20.3 percentage points below England
PROGRESS

Progress 8

-0.21

Latest published Progress 8 score, 2023/24.

A score of 0 represents the national average.
TREND

Attainment 8 over time

43.7 18/19
46.9 19/20
47.4 20/21
45.2 21/22
41.6 22/23
41.3 23/24
41.1 24/25
Education context

Ipswich'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 Ipswich, based on the earnings of local residents.

2025
Median house price
£240,000
+ 19.7% over five years
Median resident earnings
£36,660
+ 33.3% over five years
House price to earnings
6.55×
Improved from 7.29× five years ago
PRIVATE RENTING

Average monthly private rent

Typical private rental cost across all property types in Ipswich.

£993 / month
+ 4.1% in the last year
July 2026
Ipswich
£993
+ 4.1%
East of England
£1,285
+ 3.7%
England
£1,451
+ 3.8%
Compared with East of England £292 less per month
Compared with England £458 less per month
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Housing affordability

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

Ipswich
6.55×
East of England
8.52×
England
7.64×
Compared with East of England 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 received103this quarter−10 vs 2025 Q4
Applications decided94this quarter−5 vs 2025 Q4
Outstanding applications—at quarter end
96.8%approved
Overall approval rate91 granted3 refused+1.9 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 Major2100.0%100.0% Minor2487.5%100.0% Other68100.0%100.0%
QUARTERLY FLOW

Applications through the system

Last 8 quarters
2024 Q2: 1142024 Q3: 1182024 Q4: 1172025 Q1: 1422025 Q2: 1202025 Q3: 902025 Q4: 1132026 Q1: 1032024 Q2: 1252024 Q3: 1162024 Q4: 1232025 Q1: 1072025 Q2: 1182025 Q3: 1182025 Q4: 992026 Q1: 94
2024 Q2
Received Decided Outstanding
2026 Q1
HOUSING DELIVERY TEST

Homes delivered against requirement

63%
Required1,068homes over three years
Delivered677homes over three years
100% requirement
Presumption in favourHDT 2025 government assessment
CRIME & POLICING

Police-recorded crime

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

Year ending Mar 2026
Recorded offences 12,692 Total police-recorded crime excluding fraud
Crime rate 90.5 offences per 1,000 residents
Annual change + 1.3% compared with the previous year
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Recorded crime rate

Offences per 1,000 residents
Ipswich Your council
90.5 + 1.3%
East of England Region
68.4 − 0.1%
England National
83.4 − 1.5%

Ipswich has a recorded crime rate 32.2% above East of England. It is 8.4% above the England rate.

OFFENCE PROFILE

Recorded crime by category

Suffolk
Violence 4,850
34.6 per 1,000 − 1.1%
Theft 4,218
30.1 per 1,000 + 14.9%
Public order 819
5.8 per 1,000 − 22.8%
Criminal damage 1,128
8.0 per 1,000 − 7.2%
Shoplifting 2,172
15.5 per 1,000 + 56.1%
Vehicle offences 671
4.8 per 1,000 − 18.0%
Burglary 319
2.3 per 1,000 − 5.1%
Drug offences 409
2.9 per 1,000 − 7.0%
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 Ipswich.

56 schools
Open schools 56
Pupils 22,435
School places 24,402
Capacity used 91.9%
Primary 32 schools
12,061 pupils
Other / specialist 15 schools
2,034 pupils
Secondary 7 schools
8,238 pupils
16+ provision 1 school
0 pupils
Nursery 1 school
102 pupils
CURRENT POSITION

Inspection coverage

Latest Ofsted management information
Renewed framework 5
8.9% of open schools
Previous full framework 28
50.0% of open schools
Ungraded inspection 15
26.8% of open schools
No Ofsted record 7
12.5% of open schools
No published outcome 1
1.8% of open schools
RENEWED FRAMEWORK

Latest inspection standards

5 schools assessed
Achievement 5 assessed
Expected standard 3
Needs attention 2
Attendance & behaviour 5 assessed
Expected standard 3
Strong standard 2
Curriculum & teaching 5 assessed
Expected standard 4
Needs attention 1
Inclusion 5 assessed
Expected standard 3
Strong standard 2
Leadership & governance 5 assessed
Expected standard 4
Strong standard 1
Personal development 5 assessed
Expected standard 5
Safeguarding 5 assessed
Met 5
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 16
Requires improvement 2
Not judged 8
LOCAL SCHOOLS

School directory

View all schools
School Phase Pupils Capacity Latest Ofsted position
Britannia Primary School and Nursery URN 146323 · IP4 5HE Primary 637 630 Good
Castle Hill Infant School URN 141372 · IP1 6QD Primary 251 270 Ungraded inspection
Castle Hill Junior School URN 141373 · IP1 6QD Primary 288 360 Good
Cliff Lane Primary School URN 141591 · IP3 0PJ Primary 446 472 Good
Clifford Community Primary School & Nursery URN 124654 · IP4 1PJ Primary 404 420 Not judged
Dale Hall Community Primary School URN 150424 · IP1 4LX Primary 412 420 Ungraded inspection
Gusford Community Primary School URN 139803 · IP2 9LQ Primary 518 630 Not judged
Halifax Primary School URN 144217 · IP2 8PY Primary 409 420 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 140,274 2024
East of England region 6,576,306
Ipswich represents 2.13% of the region's population
Five-year population change
−535 residents ↓ 0.4%
2019: 140,809 residents2020: 139,889 residents2021: 139,638 residents2022: 139,331 residents2023: 139,497 residents2024: 140,274 residents
Ipswich −0.4%
East of England +4.8%
England +4.3%
Growth context

Ipswich's population declined over five years. Its change was 5.2 percentage points below the East of England and 4.6 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 Ipswich?

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

DWP · May 2026
PEOPLE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT 20,672 14.7% of the 2024 resident population May 2026
CHANGE IN 12 MONTHS +7.0% +1,353 people
LATEST MONTHLY CHANGE +0.8% +173 since April 2026
LOCAL CONTEXT

Universal Credit recipients as a share of population

Comparison using 2024 resident population estimates.

May 2026
Ipswich LOCAL AUTHORITY
14.7%
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
20,672 19,219 17,766
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
£28.94m 2024/25 actual outturn
Net revenue expenditure
£28.69m 2024/25 actual outturn
Council Tax requirement
£16.08m 2024/25 actual outturn
Unallocated reserves
£5.54m 2024/25 actual outturn
Service expenditure per resident £206
Median for councils of the same type £166 24.6% above peer median
2024/25 SERVICE SPENDING

Where the money was spent

Net current expenditure after service income.

Actual outturn
Culture and related services Gross £20.49m · Income £11.59m
£8.90m
Environmental and regulatory services Gross £14.57m · Income £7.06m
£7.51m
Housing Gross £8.82m · Income £2.17m
£6.66m
Central services Gross £21.04m · Income £16.04m
£5.00m
Planning and development Gross £4.69m · Income £2.48m
£2.22m
Highways and transport Gross £5.38m · Income £6.71m
£-1.34m
CORE FUNDING

Selected funding sources

Major financing lines in the central return.

Council Tax requirement£16.08m
Retained business rates£11.70m
Revenue Support Grant£201.0k
UNALLOCATED RESERVES

Financial buffer

General unallocated reserves during the year.

Opening £6.27m
Closing £5.54m
£733.0k 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
£246.70m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Investments and cash
£8.68m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Net debt
£238.02m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Net debt per resident
£1,697 Per resident using latest population
This council's net debt per resident £1,697
Median for non-metropolitan district councils £95 1,682.1% higher than the peer median
QUARTERLY TREND

Borrowing, investments and net debt

2020/21 Q1 to 2026/27 Q1.

£9.89m quarterly increase
2020/21 Q12021/22 Q32023/24 Q12024/25 Q32026/27 Q1
Latest quarterly movement +£9.89m +4.3%
Change across the series +£37.11m 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£237.70m
Other longer-term borrowing£9.00m
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
£14.75m Total outstanding at financial year-end
Collection rate
95.44% Collected against the in-year debit
Council tax written off
£395,000 Written off during the financial year
Council tax collected
£91.26m 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
£14.75m
CHANGE SINCE 2021/22
+ 49.2%
+ £4.86m
ENGLAND CHANGE
+49.5%
£9.88m 2021/22 £10.73m 2022/23 £11.67m 2023/24 £12.28m 2024/25 £14.75m 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.

£14.75m outstanding
CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR £4.52m

30.6% of outstanding arrears

EARLIER FINANCIAL YEARS £10.23m

69.4% 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 95.44%

England average: 95.60%  ·  0.16 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

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 — Ipswichmhclg housing delivery testHDT 2025–HDT 2025importedOpen
MHCLG district planning application decisions (PS2) — Ipswichmhclg planning ps21979 Q2–2026 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1) — Ipswichmhclg planning ps11996 Q2–2026 Q1importedOpen
Defra local authority waste statistics — Ipswich Borough Councildefra local authority waste2010/11–2024/25importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2023/24 — Ipswichmhclg revenue outturn rsx2023/24importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2023/24 — Ipswichmhclg revenue outturn rs2023/24importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2022/23 — Ipswichmhclg revenue outturn rsx2022/23importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2022/23 — Ipswichmhclg revenue outturn rs2022/23importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2021/22 — Ipswichmhclg revenue outturn rsx2021/22importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2021/22 — Ipswichmhclg revenue outturn rs2021/22importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2020/21 — Ipswichmhclg revenue outturn rsx2020/21importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2020/21 — Ipswichmhclg revenue outturn rs2020/21importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q4 — Ipswichmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q3 — Ipswichmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q2 — Ipswichmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q1 — Ipswichmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q4 — Ipswichmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q3 — Ipswichmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q2 — Ipswichmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q1 — Ipswichmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q4 — Ipswichmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q3 — Ipswichmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q2 — Ipswichmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q1 — Ipswichmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q4 — Ipswichmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q3 — Ipswichmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q2 — Ipswichmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q1 — Ipswichmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q4 — Ipswichmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q3 — Ipswichmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q2 — Ipswichmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q1 — Ipswichmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q4 — Ipswichmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q3 — Ipswichmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q2 — Ipswichmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q1 — Ipswichmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2026/27 Q1 — Ipswichmhclg borrowing investment2026/27 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2024/25 — Ipswichmhclg revenue outturn rsx2024/25importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2024/25 — Ipswichmhclg 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.