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Overview

North West · Non-metropolitan district

Pendle

2026/27 view

Pendle · ONS E07000122

Financial position as at 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

View sources
COUNCIL AT A GLANCE

Who runs the council and its current position

50/ 100
COUNCILMETRICS FINANCIAL HEALTH SCORE

Mixed

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

164 councils in peer group Rank 79 of 164 High confidence 2024/25 outturn · 2026/27 Q1 debt How this is calculated
Reserves cover2
Debt burden64
Liquidity78
Debt direction98
YEAR-ON-YEAR CONTEXT Change from the previous reported period Each measure uses its own official reporting timetable.
Net debt £-9.66m 2026/27 Q1 vs 2025/26 Q4
−£5.82m 151.5%
Service expenditure £16.78m 2024/25 vs 2023/24
+£1.41m 9.2%
Unallocated reserves £0.00 2024/25 vs 2023/24
£0.00
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 £16.78m
22.2%
2020/21: £21.57m 2021/22: £25.01m 2022/23: £21.30m 2023/24: £15.37m 2024/25: £16.78m
Net revenue expenditure £17.72m
6.6%
2020/21: £18.98m 2021/22: £20.29m 2022/23: £14.76m 2023/24: £17.99m 2024/25: £17.72m
Council Tax requirement £10.32m
15.9%
2020/21: £8.91m 2021/22: £8.93m 2022/23: £9.18m 2023/24: £9.74m 2024/25: £10.32m
Unallocated reserves £0.00
100.0%
2020/21: £1.00m 2021/22: £1.00m 2022/23: £1.00m 2023/24: £0.00 2024/25: £0.00
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 population99,7772024 estimate
Latest net debt£-9.66m2026/27 Q1 quarter end
WASTE & RECYCLING

What happens to household waste?

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

2024/25
26.7%recycled
Household recycling rate

Recycling rate fell

2.9 percentage points vs 2023/24
191 of 196 peer authorities Peer median 42.1%
Residual waste575.3 kgper household+7.0 kg year on year
Waste collected326.8 kgper resident−17.7 kg year on year
Household waste32,703tonnes collected8,735 tonnes recycled
WHERE HOUSEHOLD WASTE WENT

Recycled versus residual waste

8,735 t recycled, composted or reused 23,968 t not recycled
RECYCLING RATE TREND

10 years of official data

26.7%
2015/16: 36.5%2016/17: 34.1%2017/18: 31.9%2018/19: 31.3%2019/20: 32.5%2020/21: 32.5%2021/22: 31.0%2022/23: 29.6%2023/24: 29.6%2024/25: 26.7%
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 Pendle.

2024/25
SCHOOLS & PUPILS

Education at a glance

Explore schools
55 Open schools
14,890 Pupils
15,715 School places
94.8% Capacity utilisation
ATTAINMENT & OUTCOMES

Key Stage 4

Published outcomes for pupils living in Pendle.

Attainment 8
40.9
North West 44.6
England 46.1
5.2 points below England
English & maths grade 5+
37.0%
North West 42.0%
England 45.4%
8.4 percentage points below England
EBacc entry
38.5%
North West 36.7%
England 40.5%
2.0 percentage points below England
PROGRESS

Progress 8

-0.30

Latest published Progress 8 score, 2023/24.

A score of 0 represents the national average.
TREND

Attainment 8 over time

43.3 18/19
45.1 19/20
46.8 20/21
42.6 21/22
40.7 22/23
39.6 23/24
40.9 24/25
Education context

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

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

Housing costs and local earnings

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

2025
Median house price
£140,000
+ 19.1% over five years
Median resident earnings
£30,327
+ 18.7% over five years
House price to earnings
4.62×
Higher from 4.60× five years ago
PRIVATE RENTING

Average monthly private rent

Typical private rental cost across all property types in Pendle.

£666 / month
+ 6.2% in the last year
July 2026
Pendle
£666
+ 6.2%
North West
£965
+ 5.7%
England
£1,451
+ 3.8%
Compared with North West £299 less per month
Compared with England £785 less per month
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Housing affordability

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

Pendle
4.62×
North West
5.90×
England
7.64×
Compared with North 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 received137this quarter+23 vs 2025 Q4
Applications decided113this quarter+5 vs 2025 Q4
Outstanding applications—at quarter end
85.8%approved
Overall approval rate97 granted16 refused−2.1 pts vs previous quarter
DECISION TIMELINESS

Decisions made within time

95.6%
Rank 85 of 294 reporting authoritiesNational median 92.5%

3.0 percentage points higher than 2025 Q4

APPLICATION MIX

Performance by development type

TypeDecisionsApprovedIn time Major366.7%100.0% Minor5483.3%94.4% Other5689.3%96.4%
QUARTERLY FLOW

Applications through the system

Last 8 quarters
2024 Q2: 1152024 Q3: 1442024 Q4: 1152025 Q1: 1282025 Q2: 1072025 Q3: 1072025 Q4: 1142026 Q1: 1372024 Q2: 1022024 Q3: 1262024 Q4: 1192025 Q1: 1082025 Q2: 1142025 Q3: 1062025 Q4: 1082026 Q1: 113
2024 Q2
Received Decided Outstanding
2026 Q1
HOUSING DELIVERY TEST

Homes delivered against requirement

135%
Required397homes over three years
Delivered534homes over three years
100% requirement
No consequenceHDT 2025 government assessment
CRIME & POLICING

Police-recorded crime

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

Year ending Mar 2026
Recorded offences 7,041 Total police-recorded crime excluding fraud
Crime rate 70.6 offences per 1,000 residents
Annual change + 5.1% compared with the previous year
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Recorded crime rate

Offences per 1,000 residents
Pendle Your council
70.6 + 5.1%
North West Region
89.4 − 0.9%
England National
83.4 − 1.5%

Pendle has a recorded crime rate 21.1% below North West. It is 15.4% below the England rate.

OFFENCE PROFILE

Recorded crime by category

Lancashire
Violence 3,221
32.3 per 1,000 + 8.7%
Theft 1,686
16.9 per 1,000 − 4.5%
Public order 490
4.9 per 1,000 + 8.9%
Criminal damage 761
7.6 per 1,000 + 11.3%
Shoplifting 410
4.1 per 1,000 − 15.6%
Vehicle offences 303
3.0 per 1,000 − 21.9%
Burglary 400
4.0 per 1,000 + 16.3%
Drug offences 197
2.0 per 1,000 + 27.9%
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 Pendle.

55 schools
Open schools 55
Pupils 14,890
School places 15,715
Capacity used 94.8%
Primary 37 schools
8,562 pupils
Other / specialist 6 schools
572 pupils
Secondary 6 schools
5,227 pupils
Nursery 5 schools
529 pupils
16+ provision 1 school
0 pupils
CURRENT POSITION

Inspection coverage

Latest Ofsted management information
Renewed framework 8
14.5% of open schools
Previous full framework 23
41.8% of open schools
Ungraded inspection 18
32.7% of open schools
No Ofsted record 5
9.1% of open schools
No published outcome 1
1.8% of open schools
RENEWED FRAMEWORK

Latest inspection standards

8 schools assessed
Achievement 8 assessed
Expected standard 4
Needs attention 4
Attendance & behaviour 8 assessed
Expected standard 6
Needs attention 2
Curriculum & teaching 8 assessed
Expected standard 4
Needs attention 3
Urgent improvement 1
Inclusion 8 assessed
Expected standard 7
Needs attention 1
Leadership & governance 8 assessed
Expected standard 5
Needs attention 2
Urgent improvement 1
Personal development 8 assessed
Expected standard 7
Strong standard 1
Safeguarding 8 assessed
Met 8
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 3
Not judged 4
LOCAL SCHOOLS

School directory

View all schools
School Phase Pupils Capacity Latest Ofsted position
Barnoldswick Church of England Controlled Primary School URN 119360 · BB18 5TB Primary 342 420 Good
Barrowford School URN 119166 · BB9 6EA Primary 312 420 Renewed framework
Barrowford St Thomas Church of England Primary School URN 119431 · BB9 6QT Primary 121 119 Outstanding
Blacko Primary School URN 145816 · BB9 6LS Primary 103 105 Ungraded inspection
Bradley Primary School URN 119175 · BB9 7RF Primary 417 420 Ungraded inspection
Castercliff Primary School URN 142055 · BB9 8JJ Primary 387 420 Ungraded inspection
Coates Lane Primary School URN 119335 · BB18 6EZ Primary 157 210 Not judged
Colne Christ Church Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School URN 119433 · BB8 7AA Primary 187 189 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 99,777 2024
North West region 7,737,414
Pendle represents 1.29% of the region's population
Five-year population change
+4,881 residents ↑ 5.1%
2019: 94,896 residents2020: 95,099 residents2021: 95,819 residents2022: 96,509 residents2023: 97,881 residents2024: 99,777 residents
Pendle +5.1%
North West +5.1%
England +4.3%
Growth context

Pendle's population grew over five years. Its change was broadly in line with the North 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 Pendle?

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

DWP · May 2026
PEOPLE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT 17,397 17.4% of the 2024 resident population May 2026
CHANGE IN 12 MONTHS +5.9% +975 people
LATEST MONTHLY CHANGE +0.4% +65 since April 2026
LOCAL CONTEXT

Universal Credit recipients as a share of population

Comparison using 2024 resident population estimates.

May 2026
Pendle LOCAL AUTHORITY
17.4%
North West REGION
14.0%
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
17,428 16,101 14,774
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
£16.78m 2024/25 actual outturn
Net revenue expenditure
£17.72m 2024/25 actual outturn
Council Tax requirement
£10.32m 2024/25 actual outturn
Unallocated reserves
£0.00 2024/25 actual outturn
Service expenditure per resident £168
Median for councils of the same type £166 1.6% above peer median
2024/25 SERVICE SPENDING

Where the money was spent

Net current expenditure after service income.

Actual outturn
Central services Gross £22.10m · Income £16.85m
£5.25m
Environmental and regulatory services Gross £7.47m · Income £3.06m
£4.42m
Planning and development Gross £6.56m · Income £3.67m
£2.89m
Culture and related services Gross £4.35m · Income £1.52m
£2.83m
Housing Gross £3.69m · Income £2.81m
£880.9k
Highways and transport Gross £717.0k · Income £204.0k
£513.0k
CORE FUNDING

Selected funding sources

Major financing lines in the central return.

Council Tax requirement£10.32m
Retained business rates£7.48m
Revenue Support Grant£1.56m
UNALLOCATED RESERVES

Financial buffer

General unallocated reserves during the year.

Opening £0.00
Closing £0.00
£0.00 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
£16.86m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Investments and cash
£26.52m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Net debt
£-9.66m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Net debt per resident
£-97 Per resident using latest population
This council's net debt per resident £-97
Median for non-metropolitan district councils £95 201.7% lower than the peer median
QUARTERLY TREND

Borrowing, investments and net debt

2020/21 Q1 to 2026/27 Q1.

£5.82m quarterly reduction
2020/21 Q12021/22 Q32023/24 Q12024/25 Q32026/27 Q1
Latest quarterly movement −£5.82m −151.5%
Change across the series −£22.02m 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£16.86m
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
£14.61m Total outstanding at financial year-end
Collection rate
95.31% Collected against the in-year debit
Council tax written off
£-17,000 Written off during the financial year
Council tax collected
£62.93m 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
£14.61m
CHANGE SINCE 2021/22
+ 54.5%
+ £5.15m
ENGLAND CHANGE
+49.5%
£9.45m 2021/22 £10.57m 2022/23 £11.28m 2023/24 £12.54m 2024/25 £14.61m 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.

£14.61m outstanding
CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR £3.33m

22.8% of outstanding arrears

EARLIER FINANCIAL YEARS £11.27m

77.2% 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 95.31%

England average: 95.60%  ·  0.29 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 — Pendlemhclg housing delivery testHDT 2025–HDT 2025importedOpen
MHCLG district planning application decisions (PS2) — Pendlemhclg planning ps21979 Q2–2026 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1) — Pendlemhclg planning ps11996 Q2–2026 Q1importedOpen
Defra local authority waste statistics — Pendle Borough Councildefra local authority waste2010/11–2024/25importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2023/24 — Pendlemhclg revenue outturn rsx2023/24importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2023/24 — Pendlemhclg revenue outturn rs2023/24importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2022/23 — Pendlemhclg revenue outturn rsx2022/23importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2022/23 — Pendlemhclg revenue outturn rs2022/23importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2021/22 — Pendlemhclg revenue outturn rsx2021/22importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2021/22 — Pendlemhclg revenue outturn rs2021/22importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2020/21 — Pendlemhclg revenue outturn rsx2020/21importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2020/21 — Pendlemhclg revenue outturn rs2020/21importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q4 — Pendlemhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q3 — Pendlemhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q2 — Pendlemhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q1 — Pendlemhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q4 — Pendlemhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q3 — Pendlemhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q2 — Pendlemhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q1 — Pendlemhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q4 — Pendlemhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q3 — Pendlemhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q2 — Pendlemhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q1 — Pendlemhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q4 — Pendlemhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q3 — Pendlemhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q2 — Pendlemhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q1 — Pendlemhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q4 — Pendlemhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q3 — Pendlemhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q2 — Pendlemhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q1 — Pendlemhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q4 — Pendlemhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q3 — Pendlemhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q2 — Pendlemhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q1 — Pendlemhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2026/27 Q1 — Pendlemhclg borrowing investment2026/27 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2024/25 — Pendlemhclg revenue outturn rsx2024/25importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2024/25 — Pendlemhclg 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.