South East · Non-metropolitan district

Wealden

2026/27 view

Wealden · ONS E07000065

Financial position as at 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

View sources

COUNCIL AT A GLANCE

Who runs the council and its current position

70/ 100

COUNCILMETRICS FINANCIAL HEALTH SCORE

Good

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

164 councils in peer group Rank 37 of 164 High confidence 2024/25 outturn · 2026/27 Q1 debt How this is calculated

Reserves cover65

Debt burden88

Liquidity82

Debt direction31

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

Net debt £-75.40m 2026/27 Q1 vs 2025/26 Q4

+£225.0k 0.3%

Service expenditure £25.72m 2024/25 vs 2023/24

+£4.74m 22.6%

Unallocated reserves £7.29m 2024/25 vs 2023/24

+£791.0k 12.2%

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 £25.72m

36.2%

Net revenue expenditure £22.19m

1.0%

Council Tax requirement £23.65m

18.5%

Unallocated reserves £7.29m

62.7%

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 population166,9082024 estimate

Latest net debt£-75.40m2026/27 Q1 quarter end

WASTE & RECYCLING

What happens to household waste?

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

2024/25

47.9%recycled

Household recycling rate

Recycling rate fell

0.3 percentage points vs 2023/24

53 of 196 peer authorities Peer median 42.1%

Residual waste419.8 kgper household−5.3 kg year on year

Waste collected363.4 kgper resident−6.0 kg year on year

Household waste60,655tonnes collected29,068 tonnes recycled

WHERE HOUSEHOLD WASTE WENT

Recycled versus residual waste

29,068 t recycled, composted or reused 31,587 t not recycled

RECYCLING RATE TREND

10 years of official data

47.9%

2015/162024/25

EDUCATION

Schools and education

Schools, pupil numbers and latest education outcomes across Wealden.

2024/25

SCHOOLS & PUPILS

Education at a glance

Explore schools

71 Open schools

21,298 Pupils

23,697 School places

89.9% Capacity utilisation

ATTAINMENT & OUTCOMES

Key Stage 4

Published outcomes for pupils living in Wealden.

Attainment 8

46.0

South East 47.0

England 46.1

0.1 points below England

English & maths grade 5+

48.5%

South East 47.9%

England 45.4%

3.1 percentage points above England

EBacc entry

42.0%

South East 41.6%

England 40.5%

1.5 percentage points above England

PROGRESS

Progress 8

0.04

Latest published Progress 8 score, 2023/24.

A score of 0 represents the national average.

TREND

Attainment 8 over time

49.6 18/19

53.0 19/20

53.3 20/21

51.4 21/22

48.6 22/23

46.7 23/24

46.0 24/25

Education context

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

Department for Education · Key Stage 4 performance · Pupil residency

HOUSING & AFFORDABILITY

Housing costs and local earnings

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

2025

Median house price

£380,000

+ 15.2% over five years

Median resident earnings

£43,589

+ 25.8% over five years

House price to earnings

8.72×

Improved from 9.52× five years ago

PRIVATE RENTING

Average monthly private rent

Typical private rental cost across all property types in Wealden.

£1,266 / month

+ 2.0% in the last year

July 2026

Wealden

£1,266

+ 2.0%

South East

£1,419

+ 2.9%

England

£1,451

+ 3.8%

Compared with South East £153 less per month

Compared with England £185 less per month

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Housing affordability

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

Wealden

8.72×

South East

9.20×

England

7.64×

Compared with South East More 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 received340this quarter−23 vs 2025 Q4

Applications decided296this quarter−47 vs 2025 Q4

Outstanding applications—at quarter end

84.5%approved

Overall approval rate250 granted46 refused+0.2 pts vs previous quarter

DECISION TIMELINESS

Decisions made within time

97.3%

Rank 55 of 294 reporting authoritiesNational median 92.5%

1.7 percentage points higher than 2025 Q4

APPLICATION MIX

Performance by development type

TypeDecisionsApprovedIn time Major1070.0%90.0% Minor8081.3%93.8% Other20686.4%99.0%

QUARTERLY FLOW

Applications through the system

Last 8 quarters

HOUSING DELIVERY TEST

Homes delivered against requirement

89%

Required3,598homes over three years

Delivered3,217homes over three years

100% requirement

Action planHDT 2025 government assessment

CRIME & POLICING

Police-recorded crime

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

Year ending Mar 2026

Recorded offences 6,852 Total police-recorded crime excluding fraud

Crime rate 41.1 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

Wealden Your council

41.1 + 2.6%

South East Region

70.5 − 2.7%

England National

83.4 − 1.5%

Wealden has a recorded crime rate 41.8% below South East. It is 50.8% below the England rate.

OFFENCE PROFILE

Recorded crime by category

Sussex

Violence 2,738

16.4 per 1,000 + 10.6%

Theft 1,935

11.6 per 1,000 − 7.1%

Public order 629

3.8 per 1,000 + 11.9%

Criminal damage 702

4.2 per 1,000 − 12.3%

Shoplifting 757

4.5 per 1,000 + 9.4%

Vehicle offences 270

1.6 per 1,000 − 37.5%

Burglary 339

2.0 per 1,000 − 4.8%

Drug offences 142

0.9 per 1,000 + 10.1%

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 Wealden.

71 schools

Open schools 71

Pupils 21,298

School places 23,697

Capacity used 89.9%

Primary 51 schools

10,211 pupils

Other / specialist 14 schools

2,965 pupils

Secondary 5 schools

6,545 pupils

All-through 1 school

1,577 pupils

CURRENT POSITION

Inspection coverage

Latest Ofsted management information

Renewed framework 4

5.6% of open schools

Previous full framework 31

43.7% of open schools

Ungraded inspection 25

35.2% of open schools

No Ofsted record 10

14.1% of open schools

No published outcome 1

1.4% of open schools

RENEWED FRAMEWORK

Latest inspection standards

4 schools assessed

Achievement 4 assessed

Expected standard 3

Needs attention 1

Attendance & behaviour 4 assessed

Strong standard 2

Expected standard 1

Needs attention 1

Curriculum & teaching 4 assessed

Expected standard 3

Needs attention 1

Inclusion 4 assessed

Expected standard 2

Strong standard 2

Leadership & governance 4 assessed

Expected standard 4

Personal development 4 assessed

Expected standard 2

Strong standard 2

Safeguarding 4 assessed

Met 4

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 3

Good 14

Inadequate 3

Not judged 11

LOCAL SCHOOLS

School directory

View all schools

School	Phase	Pupils	Capacity	Latest Ofsted position
Alfriston School URN 114385 · BN26 5XB	Primary	85	105	Not judged
All Saints' and St Richard's Church of England Primary School URN 114554 · TN21 9AE	Primary	86	140	Renewed framework
Ashdown Primary School URN 114392 · TN6 2HW	Primary	407	420	Ungraded inspection
Blackboys Church of England Primary School URN 114547 · TN22 5LL	Primary	139	140	Good
Bonners CofE School & Nursery URN 114511 · TN22 2EG	Primary	145	105	Ungraded inspection
Buxted CofE Primary School URN 114493 · TN22 4BB	Primary	192	210	Ungraded inspection
Chiddingly Primary School URN 114391 · BN8 6HN	Primary	103	105	Ungraded inspection
Cross-in-Hand Church of England Primary School URN 114496 · TN21 0XG	Primary	379	420	Good

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 166,908 2024

South East region 9,642,942

Five-year population change

+9,365 residents ↑ 5.9%

Wealden +5.9%

South East +4.9%

England +4.3%

Growth context

Wealden's population grew over five years. Its change was 1.1 percentage points above the South East and 1.7 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 Wealden?

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

DWP · May 2026

PEOPLE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT 12,335 7.4% of the 2024 resident population May 2026

CHANGE IN 12 MONTHS +11.0% +1,218 people

LATEST MONTHLY CHANGE +0.6% +79 since April 2026

LOCAL CONTEXT

Universal Credit recipients as a share of population

Comparison using 2024 resident population estimates.

May 2026

Wealden LOCAL AUTHORITY

7.4%

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

12,335 11,137 9,938

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 4.5 µg/m³

Provisional

Last 24 hours 4.1 – 5.5 µg/m³

Lullington Heath Automatic Urban and Rural Monitoring Network (AURN); UKEAP: Acid Gases & Aerosol Network; UKEAP: National Ammonia Monitoring Network; UKEAP: Precip-Net; UKEAP: Rural NO2 · Rural 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

£25.72m 2024/25 actual outturn

Net revenue expenditure

£22.19m 2024/25 actual outturn

Council Tax requirement

£23.65m 2024/25 actual outturn

Unallocated reserves

£7.29m 2024/25 actual outturn

Service expenditure per resident £154

Median for councils of the same type £166 6.9% 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 £11.88m · Income £4.26m

£7.62m

Central services Gross £17.17m · Income £9.57m

£7.60m

Housing Gross £5.94m · Income £481.0k

£5.46m

Planning and development Gross £7.79m · Income £3.88m

£3.91m

Highways and transport Gross £701.0k · Income £177.0k

£524.0k

Culture and related services Gross £1.19m · Income £855.0k

£330.0k

Children's social care Gross £280.0k · Income £0.00

£280.0k

CORE FUNDING

Selected funding sources

Major financing lines in the central return.

Council Tax requirement£23.65m

Retained business rates£8.41m

Revenue Support Grant£160.0k

UNALLOCATED RESERVES

Financial buffer

General unallocated reserves during the year.

Opening £6.50m

Closing £7.29m

£791.0k 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

£51.61m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Investments and cash

£127.01m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Net debt

£-75.40m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Net debt per resident

£-452 Per resident using latest population

This council's net debt per resident £-452

Median for non-metropolitan district councils £95 574.5% lower than the peer median

QUARTERLY TREND

Borrowing, investments and net debt

2020/21 Q1 to 2026/27 Q1.

£225.0k quarterly increase

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

Latest quarterly movement +£225.0k +0.3%

Change across the series −£52.72m Net debt since 2020/21 Q1

What changed?

Net debt increased despite borrowing not rising because investments and cash fell during the quarter.

BORROWING COMPOSITION

Where the borrowing sits

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

2026/27 Q1

Public Works Loan Board£51.61m

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

£13.12m Total outstanding at financial year-end

Collection rate

97.40% Collected against the in-year debit

Council tax written off

£440,000 Written off during the financial year

Council tax collected

£180.51m 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

£13.12m

CHANGE SINCE 2021/22

+ 17.2%

+ £1.93m

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.

£13.12m outstanding

CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR £4.88m

37.2% of outstanding arrears

EARLIER FINANCIAL YEARS £8.24m

62.8% 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 97.40%

England average: 95.60% · 1.80 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 — Wealden	mhclg housing delivery test	HDT 2025–HDT 2025	imported	Open
MHCLG district planning application decisions (PS2) — Wealden	mhclg planning ps2	1979 Q2–2026 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1) — Wealden	mhclg planning ps1	1996 Q2–2026 Q1	imported	Open
Defra local authority waste statistics — Wealden District Council	defra local authority waste	2010/11–2024/25	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2023/24 — Wealden	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2023/24	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2023/24 — Wealden	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2023/24	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2022/23 — Wealden	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2022/23	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2022/23 — Wealden	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2022/23	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2021/22 — Wealden	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2021/22	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2021/22 — Wealden	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2021/22	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2020/21 — Wealden	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2020/21	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2020/21 — Wealden	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2020/21	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q4 — Wealden	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q3 — Wealden	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q2 — Wealden	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q1 — Wealden	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q4 — Wealden	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q3 — Wealden	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q2 — Wealden	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q1 — Wealden	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q4 — Wealden	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q3 — Wealden	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q2 — Wealden	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q1 — Wealden	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q4 — Wealden	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q3 — Wealden	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q2 — Wealden	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q1 — Wealden	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q4 — Wealden	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q3 — Wealden	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q2 — Wealden	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q1 — Wealden	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q4 — Wealden	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q3 — Wealden	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q2 — Wealden	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q1 — Wealden	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2026/27 Q1 — Wealden	mhclg borrowing investment	2026/27 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2024/25 — Wealden	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2024/25	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2024/25 — Wealden	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.