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Overview

North West · Non-metropolitan district

Rossendale

2026/27 view

Rossendale · ONS E07000125

Financial position as at 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

View sources
COUNCIL AT A GLANCE

Who runs the council and its current position

69/ 100
COUNCILMETRICS FINANCIAL HEALTH SCORE

Good

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

164 councils in peer group Rank 41 of 164 High confidence 2024/25 outturn · 2026/27 Q1 debt How this is calculated
Reserves cover33
Debt burden83
Liquidity93
Debt direction93
YEAR-ON-YEAR CONTEXT Change from the previous reported period Each measure uses its own official reporting timetable.
Net debt £-25.71m 2026/27 Q1 vs 2025/26 Q4
−£8.47m 49.2%
Service expenditure £10.75m 2024/25 vs 2023/24
+£440.0k 4.3%
Unallocated reserves £1.00m 2024/25 vs 2023/24
£0.00 0.0%
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 £10.75m
39.1%
2020/21: £17.64m 2021/22: £10.07m 2022/23: £11.85m 2023/24: £10.31m 2024/25: £10.75m
Net revenue expenditure £7.19m
53.5%
2020/21: £15.47m 2021/22: £9.33m 2022/23: £10.25m 2023/24: £6.79m 2024/25: £7.19m
Council Tax requirement £6.51m
12.9%
2020/21: £5.77m 2021/22: £5.87m 2022/23: £6.04m 2023/24: £6.30m 2024/25: £6.51m
Unallocated reserves £1.00m
0.0%
2020/21: £1.00m 2021/22: £1.00m 2022/23: £1.00m 2023/24: £1.00m 2024/25: £1.00m
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 population73,0452024 estimate
Latest net debt£-25.71m2026/27 Q1 quarter end
WASTE & RECYCLING

What happens to household waste?

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

2024/25
28.9%recycled
Household recycling rate

Recycling rate fell

1.6 percentage points vs 2023/24
181 of 196 peer authorities Peer median 42.1%
Residual waste519.4 kgper household+6.3 kg year on year
Waste collected328.9 kgper resident−9.5 kg year on year
Household waste24,027tonnes collected6,944 tonnes recycled
WHERE HOUSEHOLD WASTE WENT

Recycled versus residual waste

6,944 t recycled, composted or reused 17,083 t not recycled
RECYCLING RATE TREND

10 years of official data

28.9%
2015/16: 33.7%2016/17: 34.5%2017/18: 34.1%2018/19: 31.5%2019/20: 29.9%2020/21: 34.0%2021/22: 32.9%2022/23: 31.5%2023/24: 30.5%2024/25: 28.9%
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 Rossendale.

2024/25
SCHOOLS & PUPILS

Education at a glance

Explore schools
47 Open schools
11,948 Pupils
13,181 School places
90.6% Capacity utilisation
ATTAINMENT & OUTCOMES

Key Stage 4

Published outcomes for pupils living in Rossendale.

Attainment 8
42.7
North West 44.6
England 46.1
3.4 points below England
English & maths grade 5+
41.2%
North West 42.0%
England 45.4%
4.2 percentage points below England
EBacc entry
25.4%
North West 36.7%
England 40.5%
15.1 percentage points below England
PROGRESS

Progress 8

-0.34

Latest published Progress 8 score, 2023/24.

A score of 0 represents the national average.
TREND

Attainment 8 over time

46.0 18/19
50.0 19/20
51.2 20/21
46.3 21/22
46.1 22/23
42.6 23/24
42.7 24/25
Education context

Rossendale's latest Key Stage 4 outcomes are below both North West 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 Rossendale, based on the earnings of local residents.

2025
Median house price
£185,000
+ 27.6% over five years
Median resident earnings
£35,273
+ 27.6% over five years
House price to earnings
5.24×
Improved from 5.25× five years ago
PRIVATE RENTING

Average monthly private rent

Typical private rental cost across all property types in Rossendale.

£808 / month
+ 4.9% in the last year
July 2026
Rossendale
£808
+ 4.9%
North West
£965
+ 5.7%
England
£1,451
+ 3.8%
Compared with North West £157 less per month
Compared with England £643 less per month
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Housing affordability

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

Rossendale
5.24×
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 received60this quarter+10 vs 2025 Q4
Applications decided58this quarter0 vs 2025 Q4
Outstanding applications—at quarter end
81.0%approved
Overall approval rate47 granted11 refused−0.0 pts vs previous quarter
DECISION TIMELINESS

Decisions made within time

96.6%
Rank 67 of 294 reporting authoritiesNational median 92.5%

3.5 percentage points higher than 2025 Q4

APPLICATION MIX

Performance by development type

TypeDecisionsApprovedIn time Major3100.0%66.7% Minor2281.8%95.5% Other3378.8%100.0%
QUARTERLY FLOW

Applications through the system

Last 8 quarters
2024 Q2: 752024 Q3: 852024 Q4: 752025 Q1: 652025 Q2: 662025 Q3: 802025 Q4: 502026 Q1: 602024 Q2: 652024 Q3: 852024 Q4: 702025 Q1: 582025 Q2: 532025 Q3: 622025 Q4: 582026 Q1: 58
2024 Q2
Received Decided Outstanding
2026 Q1
HOUSING DELIVERY TEST

Homes delivered against requirement

96%
Required550homes over three years
Delivered530homes over three years
100% requirement
No consequenceHDT 2025 government assessment
CRIME & POLICING

Police-recorded crime

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

Year ending Mar 2026
Recorded offences 4,835 Total police-recorded crime excluding fraud
Crime rate 66.2 offences per 1,000 residents
Annual change + 1.1% compared with the previous year
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Recorded crime rate

Offences per 1,000 residents
Rossendale Your council
66.2 + 1.1%
North West Region
89.4 − 0.9%
England National
83.4 − 1.5%

Rossendale has a recorded crime rate 26.0% below North West. It is 20.7% below the England rate.

OFFENCE PROFILE

Recorded crime by category

Lancashire
Violence 2,108
28.9 per 1,000 + 4.7%
Theft 1,267
17.3 per 1,000 − 0.4%
Public order 327
4.5 per 1,000 + 16.4%
Criminal damage 554
7.6 per 1,000 − 12.5%
Shoplifting 306
4.2 per 1,000 − 4.7%
Vehicle offences 262
3.6 per 1,000 − 1.5%
Burglary 289
4.0 per 1,000 + 21.4%
Drug offences 118
1.6 per 1,000 − 22.4%
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 Rossendale.

47 schools
Open schools 47
Pupils 11,948
School places 13,181
Capacity used 90.6%
Primary 31 schools
5,884 pupils
Other / specialist 7 schools
635 pupils
Secondary 6 schools
5,262 pupils
Nursery 3 schools
167 pupils
CURRENT POSITION

Inspection coverage

Latest Ofsted management information
Renewed framework 7
14.9% of open schools
Previous full framework 17
36.2% of open schools
Ungraded inspection 18
38.3% of open schools
No Ofsted record 5
10.6% of open schools
RENEWED FRAMEWORK

Latest inspection standards

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

School directory

View all schools
School Phase Pupils Capacity Latest Ofsted position
Bacup Holy Trinity Stacksteads Church of England Primary School URN 119414 · OL13 0QW Primary 221 240 Good
Bacup St Saviour's Community Primary School URN 119191 · OL13 9RR Primary 88 105 Ungraded inspection
Bacup Thorn Primary School URN 119193 · OL13 8EF Primary 253 276 Good
Britannia Community Primary School URN 119189 · OL13 9TS Primary 204 225 Renewed framework
Crawshawbooth Primary School URN 119313 · BB4 8AN Primary 296 315 Ungraded inspection
Edenfield Church of England Primary School URN 119385 · BL0 0HL Primary 208 197 Not judged
Haslingden Broadway Primary School URN 119326 · BB4 4EH Primary 207 210 Not judged
Haslingden Primary School URN 119194 · BB4 4BJ Primary 372 420 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 73,045 2024
North West region 7,737,414
Rossendale represents 0.94% of the region's population
Five-year population change
+2,161 residents ↑ 3.0%
2019: 70,884 residents2020: 70,811 residents2021: 71,008 residents2022: 71,264 residents2023: 71,962 residents2024: 73,045 residents
Rossendale +3.0%
North West +5.1%
England +4.3%
Growth context

Rossendale's population grew over five years. Its change was 2.0 percentage points below the North West and 1.2 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 Rossendale?

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

DWP · May 2026
PEOPLE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT 9,542 13.1% of the 2024 resident population May 2026
CHANGE IN 12 MONTHS +9.6% +833 people
LATEST MONTHLY CHANGE +0.8% +75 since April 2026
LOCAL CONTEXT

Universal Credit recipients as a share of population

Comparison using 2024 resident population estimates.

May 2026
Rossendale LOCAL AUTHORITY
13.1%
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
9,542 8,682 7,821
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
£10.75m 2024/25 actual outturn
Net revenue expenditure
£7.19m 2024/25 actual outturn
Council Tax requirement
£6.51m 2024/25 actual outturn
Unallocated reserves
£1.00m 2024/25 actual outturn
Service expenditure per resident £147
Median for councils of the same type £166 11.1% below peer median
2024/25 SERVICE SPENDING

Where the money was spent

Net current expenditure after service income.

Actual outturn
Central services Gross £5.57m · Income £1.10m
£4.46m
Environmental and regulatory services Gross £4.19m · Income £1.62m
£2.57m
Housing Gross £4.23m · Income £2.73m
£1.50m
Culture and related services Gross £2.11m · Income £644.0k
£1.46m
Planning and development Gross £2.13m · Income £1.62m
£513.0k
Highways and transport Gross £296.0k · Income £63.0k
£233.0k
CORE FUNDING

Selected funding sources

Major financing lines in the central return.

Council Tax requirement£6.51m
Retained business rates£2.39m
Revenue Support Grant£91.0k
UNALLOCATED RESERVES

Financial buffer

General unallocated reserves during the year.

Opening £1.00m
Closing £1.00m
£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
£3.01m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Investments and cash
£28.71m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Net debt
£-25.71m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Net debt per resident
£-352 Per resident using latest population
This council's net debt per resident £-352
Median for non-metropolitan district councils £95 469.6% lower than the peer median
QUARTERLY TREND

Borrowing, investments and net debt

2020/21 Q1 to 2026/27 Q1.

£8.47m quarterly reduction
2020/21 Q12021/22 Q32023/24 Q12024/25 Q32026/27 Q1
Latest quarterly movement −£8.47m −49.2%
Change across the series −£17.03m 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£3.01m
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
£11.76m Total outstanding at financial year-end
Collection rate
95.40% Collected against the in-year debit
Council tax written off
£203,000 Written off during the financial year
Council tax collected
£50.73m 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
£11.76m
CHANGE SINCE 2021/22
+ 46.4%
+ £3.73m
ENGLAND CHANGE
+49.5%
£8.03m 2021/22 £8.89m 2022/23 £9.16m 2023/24 £9.77m 2024/25 £11.76m 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.

£11.76m outstanding
CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR £2.62m

22.3% of outstanding arrears

EARLIER FINANCIAL YEARS £9.14m

77.7% 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 95.40%

England average: 95.60%  ·  0.20 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 — Rossendalemhclg housing delivery testHDT 2025–HDT 2025importedOpen
MHCLG district planning application decisions (PS2) — Rossendalemhclg planning ps21979 Q2–2026 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1) — Rossendalemhclg planning ps11996 Q2–2026 Q1importedOpen
Defra local authority waste statistics — Rossendale Borough Councildefra local authority waste2010/11–2024/25importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2023/24 — Rossendalemhclg revenue outturn rsx2023/24importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2023/24 — Rossendalemhclg revenue outturn rs2023/24importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2022/23 — Rossendalemhclg revenue outturn rsx2022/23importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2022/23 — Rossendalemhclg revenue outturn rs2022/23importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2021/22 — Rossendalemhclg revenue outturn rsx2021/22importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2021/22 — Rossendalemhclg revenue outturn rs2021/22importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2020/21 — Rossendalemhclg revenue outturn rsx2020/21importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2020/21 — Rossendalemhclg revenue outturn rs2020/21importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q4 — Rossendalemhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q3 — Rossendalemhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q2 — Rossendalemhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q1 — Rossendalemhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q4 — Rossendalemhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q3 — Rossendalemhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q2 — Rossendalemhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q1 — Rossendalemhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q4 — Rossendalemhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q3 — Rossendalemhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q2 — Rossendalemhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q1 — Rossendalemhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q4 — Rossendalemhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q3 — Rossendalemhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q2 — Rossendalemhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q1 — Rossendalemhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q4 — Rossendalemhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q3 — Rossendalemhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q2 — Rossendalemhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q1 — Rossendalemhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q4 — Rossendalemhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q3 — Rossendalemhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q2 — Rossendalemhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q1 — Rossendalemhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2026/27 Q1 — Rossendalemhclg borrowing investment2026/27 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2024/25 — Rossendalemhclg revenue outturn rsx2024/25importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2024/25 — Rossendalemhclg 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.