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Overview

South East · Non-metropolitan district

Rother

2026/27 view

Rother · ONS E07000064

Financial position as at 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

View sources
COUNCIL AT A GLANCE

Who runs the council and its current position

68/ 100
COUNCILMETRICS FINANCIAL HEALTH SCORE

Good

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

164 councils in peer group Rank 43 of 164 High confidence 2024/25 outturn · 2026/27 Q1 debt How this is calculated
Reserves cover62
Debt burden59
Liquidity72
Debt direction96
YEAR-ON-YEAR CONTEXT Change from the previous reported period Each measure uses its own official reporting timetable.
Net debt £-2.08m 2026/27 Q1 vs 2025/26 Q4
−£7.48m 138.5%
Service expenditure £16.77m 2024/25 vs 2023/24
−£1.08m 6.0%
Unallocated reserves £5.00m 2024/25 vs 2023/24
+£5.00m 249,900.0%
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 £16.77m
0.6%
2020/21: £16.66m 2021/22: £15.12m 2022/23: £16.36m 2023/24: £17.84m 2024/25: £16.77m
Net revenue expenditure £16.33m
5.1%
2020/21: £17.21m 2021/22: £15.88m 2022/23: £15.90m 2023/24: £17.86m 2024/25: £16.33m
Council Tax requirement £11.79m
24.3%
2020/21: £9.48m 2021/22: £9.94m 2022/23: £10.44m 2023/24: £11.12m 2024/25: £11.79m
Unallocated reserves £5.00m
31.4%
2020/21: £3.80m 2021/22: £1.58m 2022/23: £2.09m 2023/24: £2.0k 2024/25: £5.00m
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 population96,1332024 estimate
Latest net debt£-2.08m2026/27 Q1 quarter end
WASTE & RECYCLING

What happens to household waste?

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

2024/25
46.0%recycled
Household recycling rate

Recycling rate fell

0.8 percentage points vs 2023/24
60 of 196 peer authorities Peer median 42.1%
Residual waste418.8 kgper household−2.9 kg year on year
Waste collected377.2 kgper resident−11.0 kg year on year
Household waste36,458tonnes collected16,786 tonnes recycled
WHERE HOUSEHOLD WASTE WENT

Recycled versus residual waste

16,786 t recycled, composted or reused 19,671 t not recycled
RECYCLING RATE TREND

10 years of official data

46.0%
2015/16: 45.4%2016/17: 48.3%2017/18: 50.2%2018/19: 47.4%2019/20: 45.5%2020/21: 44.4%2021/22: 46.5%2022/23: 44.5%2023/24: 46.8%2024/25: 46.0%
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 Rother.

2024/25
SCHOOLS & PUPILS

Education at a glance

Explore schools
52 Open schools
12,933 Pupils
14,789 School places
87.5% Capacity utilisation
ATTAINMENT & OUTCOMES

Key Stage 4

Published outcomes for pupils living in Rother.

Attainment 8
43.5
South East 47.0
England 46.1
2.6 points below England
English & maths grade 5+
39.8%
South East 47.9%
England 45.4%
5.6 percentage points below England
EBacc entry
34.8%
South East 41.6%
England 40.5%
5.7 percentage points below England
PROGRESS

Progress 8

-0.32

Latest published Progress 8 score, 2023/24.

A score of 0 represents the national average.
TREND

Attainment 8 over time

46.3 18/19
49.0 19/20
49.5 20/21
45.7 21/22
44.3 22/23
43.7 23/24
43.5 24/25
Education context

Rother's latest Key Stage 4 outcomes are below both South East 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 Rother, based on the earnings of local residents.

2025
Median house price
£360,000
+ 16.1% over five years
Median resident earnings
£36,197
+ 24.2% over five years
House price to earnings
9.95×
Improved from 10.63× five years ago
PRIVATE RENTING

Average monthly private rent

Typical private rental cost across all property types in Rother.

£1,166 / month
+ 0.8% in the last year
July 2026
Rother
£1,166
+ 0.8%
South East
£1,419
+ 2.9%
England
£1,451
+ 3.8%
Compared with South East £253 less per month
Compared with England £285 less per month
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Housing affordability

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

Rother
9.95×
South East
9.20×
England
7.64×
Compared with South East 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 received205this quarter+15 vs 2025 Q4
Applications decided172this quarter+6 vs 2025 Q4
Outstanding applications—at quarter end
91.9%approved
Overall approval rate158 granted14 refused+2.7 pts vs previous quarter
DECISION TIMELINESS

Decisions made within time

86.1%
Rank 231 of 294 reporting authoritiesNational median 92.5%

7.7 percentage points higher than 2025 Q4

APPLICATION MIX

Performance by development type

TypeDecisionsApprovedIn time Major1100.0%100.0% Minor5082.0%82.0% Other12195.9%87.6%
QUARTERLY FLOW

Applications through the system

Last 8 quarters
2024 Q2: 2152024 Q3: 1982024 Q4: 2032025 Q1: 2352025 Q2: 2012025 Q3: 2522025 Q4: 1902026 Q1: 2052024 Q2: 2282024 Q3: 2212024 Q4: 1992025 Q1: 2132025 Q2: 2092025 Q3: 1922025 Q4: 1662026 Q1: 172
2024 Q2
Received Decided Outstanding
2026 Q1
HOUSING DELIVERY TEST

Homes delivered against requirement

35%
Required2,197homes over three years
Delivered776homes over three years
100% requirement
Presumption in favourHDT 2025 government assessment
CRIME & POLICING

Police-recorded crime

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

Year ending Mar 2026
Recorded offences 5,527 Total police-recorded crime excluding fraud
Crime rate 57.5 offences per 1,000 residents
Annual change − 10.5% compared with the previous year
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Recorded crime rate

Offences per 1,000 residents
Rother Your council
57.5 − 10.5%
South East Region
70.5 − 2.7%
England National
83.4 − 1.5%

Rother has a recorded crime rate 18.4% below South East. It is 31.1% below the England rate.

OFFENCE PROFILE

Recorded crime by category

Sussex
Violence 2,164
22.5 per 1,000 − 6.8%
Theft 1,499
15.6 per 1,000 − 18.0%
Public order 518
5.4 per 1,000 − 11.5%
Criminal damage 664
6.9 per 1,000 − 11.0%
Shoplifting 660
6.9 per 1,000 − 24.7%
Vehicle offences 213
2.2 per 1,000 − 14.8%
Burglary 203
2.1 per 1,000 − 25.1%
Drug offences 110
1.1 per 1,000 − 4.3%
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 Rother.

52 schools
Open schools 52
Pupils 12,933
School places 14,789
Capacity used 87.5%
Primary 32 schools
5,994 pupils
Other / specialist 14 schools
2,033 pupils
Secondary 5 schools
4,906 pupils
16+ provision 1 school
0 pupils
CURRENT POSITION

Inspection coverage

Latest Ofsted management information
Renewed framework 2
3.8% of open schools
Previous full framework 23
44.2% of open schools
Ungraded inspection 15
28.8% of open schools
No Ofsted record 12
23.1% 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 2
Inclusion 2 assessed
Expected standard 2
Leadership & governance 2 assessed
Expected standard 2
Personal development 2 assessed
Expected standard 2
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 2
Good 11
Inadequate 1
Not judged 9
LOCAL SCHOOLS

School directory

View all schools
School Phase Pupils Capacity Latest Ofsted position
All Saints Church of England Primary School, Bexhill URN 114491 · TN39 5HA Primary 282 225 Ungraded inspection
Battle and Langton Church of England Primary School URN 114489 · TN33 0HQ Primary 412 420 Ungraded inspection
Beckley Church of England Primary School URN 114490 · TN31 6RN Primary 83 105 Ungraded inspection
Bodiam Church of England Primary School URN 114529 · TN32 5UH Primary 85 105 Not judged
Brede Primary School URN 114389 · TN31 6DG Primary 97 140 Renewed framework
Burwash CofE School URN 114492 · TN19 7DZ Primary 158 175 Outstanding
Catsfield Church of England Primary School URN 114494 · TN33 9DP Primary 105 105 Not judged
Chantry Community Primary School URN 150494 · TN40 2AT Primary 195 210 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 96,133 2024
South East region 9,642,942
Rother represents 1.00% of the region's population
Five-year population change
+3,552 residents ↑ 3.8%
2019: 92,581 residents2020: 92,734 residents2021: 93,409 residents2022: 94,323 residents2023: 95,089 residents2024: 96,133 residents
Rother +3.8%
South East +4.9%
England +4.3%
Growth context

Rother's population grew over five years. Its change was 1.0 percentage points below the South East and broadly in line with 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 Rother?

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

DWP · May 2026
PEOPLE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT 9,771 10.2% of the 2024 resident population May 2026
CHANGE IN 12 MONTHS +8.0% +725 people
LATEST MONTHLY CHANGE +0.1% +11 since April 2026
LOCAL CONTEXT

Universal Credit recipients as a share of population

Comparison using 2024 resident population estimates.

May 2026
Rother LOCAL AUTHORITY
10.2%
South East REGION
9.5%
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
9,771 8,948 8,125
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
£16.77m 2024/25 actual outturn
Net revenue expenditure
£16.33m 2024/25 actual outturn
Council Tax requirement
£11.79m 2024/25 actual outturn
Unallocated reserves
£5.00m 2024/25 actual outturn
Service expenditure per resident £174
Median for councils of the same type £166 5.4% above peer median
2024/25 SERVICE SPENDING

Where the money was spent

Net current expenditure after service income.

Actual outturn
Environmental and regulatory services Gross £9.23m · Income £2.81m
£6.42m
Housing Gross £7.20m · Income £2.68m
£4.52m
Central services Gross £11.99m · Income £7.56m
£4.43m
Culture and related services Gross £2.66m · Income £357.0k
£2.30m
Planning and development Gross £4.38m · Income £3.75m
£634.0k
Other services Gross £1.55m · Income £1.55m
£-5.0k
Highways and transport Gross £904.0k · Income £2.44m
£-1.53m
CORE FUNDING

Selected funding sources

Major financing lines in the central return.

Council Tax requirement£11.79m
Retained business rates£5.35m
Revenue Support Grant£184.0k
UNALLOCATED RESERVES

Financial buffer

General unallocated reserves during the year.

Opening £5.00m
Closing £5.00m
£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
£53.36m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Investments and cash
£55.43m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Net debt
£-2.08m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Net debt per resident
£-22 Per resident using latest population
This council's net debt per resident £-22
Median for non-metropolitan district councils £95 122.7% lower than the peer median
QUARTERLY TREND

Borrowing, investments and net debt

2020/21 Q1 to 2026/27 Q1.

£7.48m quarterly reduction
2020/21 Q12021/22 Q32023/24 Q12024/25 Q32026/27 Q1
Latest quarterly movement −£7.48m −138.5%
Change across the series +£19.69m 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£53.36m
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
£8.76m Total outstanding at financial year-end
Collection rate
96.90% Collected against the in-year debit
Council tax written off
£481,000 Written off during the financial year
Council tax collected
£100.37m 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
£8.76m
CHANGE SINCE 2021/22
+ 90.9%
+ £4.17m
ENGLAND CHANGE
+49.5%
£4.59m 2021/22 £5.22m 2022/23 £6.00m 2023/24 £7.52m 2024/25 £8.76m 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.

£8.76m outstanding
CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR £4.08m

46.6% of outstanding arrears

EARLIER FINANCIAL YEARS £4.68m

53.4% 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 96.90%

England average: 95.60%  ·  1.30 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 — Rothermhclg housing delivery testHDT 2025–HDT 2025importedOpen
MHCLG district planning application decisions (PS2) — Rothermhclg planning ps21979 Q2–2026 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1) — Rothermhclg planning ps11996 Q2–2026 Q1importedOpen
Defra local authority waste statistics — Rother District Councildefra local authority waste2010/11–2024/25importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2023/24 — Rothermhclg revenue outturn rsx2023/24importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2023/24 — Rothermhclg revenue outturn rs2023/24importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2022/23 — Rothermhclg revenue outturn rsx2022/23importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2022/23 — Rothermhclg revenue outturn rs2022/23importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2021/22 — Rothermhclg revenue outturn rsx2021/22importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2021/22 — Rothermhclg revenue outturn rs2021/22importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2020/21 — Rothermhclg revenue outturn rsx2020/21importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2020/21 — Rothermhclg revenue outturn rs2020/21importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q4 — Rothermhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q3 — Rothermhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q2 — Rothermhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q1 — Rothermhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q4 — Rothermhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q3 — Rothermhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q2 — Rothermhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q1 — Rothermhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q4 — Rothermhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q3 — Rothermhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q2 — Rothermhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q1 — Rothermhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q4 — Rothermhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q3 — Rothermhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q2 — Rothermhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q1 — Rothermhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q4 — Rothermhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q3 — Rothermhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q2 — Rothermhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q1 — Rothermhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q4 — Rothermhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q3 — Rothermhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q2 — Rothermhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q1 — Rothermhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2026/27 Q1 — Rothermhclg borrowing investment2026/27 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2024/25 — Rothermhclg revenue outturn rsx2024/25importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2024/25 — Rothermhclg 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.