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Overview

East Midlands · Non-metropolitan district

Ashfield

2026/27 view

Ashfield · ONS E07000170

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 42 of 164 High confidence 2024/25 outturn · 2026/27 Q1 debt How this is calculated
Reserves cover85
Debt burden45
Liquidity57
Debt direction91
YEAR-ON-YEAR CONTEXT Change from the previous reported period Each measure uses its own official reporting timetable.
Net debt £25.25m 2026/27 Q1 vs 2025/26 Q4
−£12.99m 34.0%
Service expenditure £23.92m 2024/25 vs 2023/24
+£1.89m 8.6%
Unallocated reserves £10.95m 2024/25 vs 2023/24
+£947.0k 9.5%
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 £23.92m
12.8%
2020/21: £21.21m 2021/22: £18.40m 2022/23: £18.32m 2023/24: £22.04m 2024/25: £23.92m
Net revenue expenditure £17.70m
57.4%
2020/21: £11.24m 2021/22: £11.47m 2022/23: £12.58m 2023/24: £15.33m 2024/25: £17.70m
Council Tax requirement £7.54m
12.4%
2020/21: £6.71m 2021/22: £6.71m 2022/23: £6.97m 2023/24: £7.27m 2024/25: £7.54m
Unallocated reserves £10.95m
39.0%
2020/21: £7.88m 2021/22: £8.98m 2022/23: £9.24m 2023/24: £10.00m 2024/25: £10.95m
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 population129,5722024 estimate
Latest net debt£25.25m2026/27 Q1 quarter end
WASTE & RECYCLING

What happens to household waste?

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

2024/25
34.6%recycled
Household recycling rate

Recycling rate fell

0.9 percentage points vs 2023/24
151 of 196 peer authorities Peer median 42.1%
Residual waste522.1 kgper household+5.0 kg year on year
Waste collected357.5 kgper resident−3.0 kg year on year
Household waste46,323tonnes collected16,033 tonnes recycled
WHERE HOUSEHOLD WASTE WENT

Recycled versus residual waste

16,033 t recycled, composted or reused 30,290 t not recycled
RECYCLING RATE TREND

10 years of official data

34.6%
2015/16: 31.8%2016/17: 41.0%2017/18: 40.8%2018/19: 35.7%2019/20: 37.1%2020/21: 36.4%2021/22: 37.0%2022/23: 35.0%2023/24: 35.5%2024/25: 34.6%
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 Ashfield.

2024/25
SCHOOLS & PUPILS

Education at a glance

Explore schools
50 Open schools
19,690 Pupils
21,972 School places
89.6% Capacity utilisation
ATTAINMENT & OUTCOMES

Key Stage 4

Published outcomes for pupils living in Ashfield.

Attainment 8
41.1
East Midlands 45.0
England 46.1
5.0 points below England
English & maths grade 5+
35.4%
East Midlands 43.1%
England 45.4%
10.0 percentage points below England
EBacc entry
36.1%
East Midlands 36.9%
England 40.5%
4.4 percentage points below England
PROGRESS

Progress 8

-0.33

Latest published Progress 8 score, 2023/24.

A score of 0 represents the national average.
TREND

Attainment 8 over time

42.7 18/19
46.3 19/20
46.4 20/21
43.9 21/22
41.8 22/23
40.8 23/24
41.1 24/25
Education context

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

2025
Median house price
£196,800
+ 35.3% over five years
Median resident earnings
£32,577
+ 23.2% over five years
House price to earnings
6.04×
Higher from 5.50× five years ago
PRIVATE RENTING

Average monthly private rent

Typical private rental cost across all property types in Ashfield.

£793 / month
+ 5.0% in the last year
July 2026
Ashfield
£793
+ 5.0%
East Midlands
£918
+ 3.6%
England
£1,451
+ 3.8%
Compared with East Midlands £125 less per month
Compared with England £658 less per month
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Housing affordability

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

Ashfield
6.04×
East Midlands
6.91×
England
7.64×
Compared with East Midlands 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 received117this quarter+18 vs 2025 Q4
Applications decided97this quarter−6 vs 2025 Q4
Outstanding applications—at quarter end
79.4%approved
Overall approval rate77 granted20 refused−6.1 pts vs previous quarter
DECISION TIMELINESS

Decisions made within time

96.9%
Rank 62 of 294 reporting authoritiesNational median 92.5%

8.6 percentage points higher than 2025 Q4

APPLICATION MIX

Performance by development type

TypeDecisionsApprovedIn time Major683.3%100.0% Minor2878.6%96.4% Other6379.4%96.8%
QUARTERLY FLOW

Applications through the system

Last 8 quarters
2024 Q2: 982024 Q3: 852024 Q4: 912025 Q1: 1252025 Q2: 962025 Q3: 1082025 Q4: 992026 Q1: 1172024 Q2: 1142024 Q3: 722024 Q4: 652025 Q1: 862025 Q2: 1292025 Q3: 962025 Q4: 1032026 Q1: 97
2024 Q2
Received Decided Outstanding
2026 Q1
HOUSING DELIVERY TEST

Homes delivered against requirement

93%
Required1,359homes over three years
Delivered1,262homes over three years
100% requirement
Action planHDT 2025 government assessment
CRIME & POLICING

Police-recorded crime

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

Year ending Mar 2026
Recorded offences 10,321 Total police-recorded crime excluding fraud
Crime rate 79.7 offences per 1,000 residents
Annual change + 0.6% compared with the previous year
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Recorded crime rate

Offences per 1,000 residents
Ashfield Your council
79.7 + 0.6%
East Midlands Region
76.6 − 1.1%
England National
83.4 − 1.5%

Ashfield has a recorded crime rate 4.0% above East Midlands. It is 4.5% below the England rate.

OFFENCE PROFILE

Recorded crime by category

Nottinghamshire
Violence 3,817
29.5 per 1,000 + 5.9%
Theft 3,229
24.9 per 1,000 − 6.3%
Public order 758
5.9 per 1,000 + 1.3%
Criminal damage 1,048
8.1 per 1,000 − 4.1%
Shoplifting 1,399
10.8 per 1,000 − 22.2%
Vehicle offences 473
3.7 per 1,000 + 15.4%
Burglary 461
3.6 per 1,000 + 10.0%
Drug offences 328
2.5 per 1,000 + 2.5%
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 Ashfield.

50 schools
Open schools 50
Pupils 19,690
School places 21,972
Capacity used 89.6%
Primary 38 schools
10,941 pupils
Secondary 7 schools
8,383 pupils
Other / specialist 5 schools
366 pupils
CURRENT POSITION

Inspection coverage

Latest Ofsted management information
Renewed framework 9
18.0% of open schools
Previous full framework 24
48.0% of open schools
Ungraded inspection 13
26.0% of open schools
No Ofsted record 3
6.0% of open schools
No published outcome 1
2.0% of open schools
RENEWED FRAMEWORK

Latest inspection standards

9 schools assessed
Achievement 9 assessed
Needs attention 5
Expected standard 3
Urgent improvement 1
Attendance & behaviour 9 assessed
Expected standard 8
Needs attention 1
Curriculum & teaching 9 assessed
Expected standard 5
Needs attention 4
Inclusion 9 assessed
Expected standard 8
Needs attention 1
Leadership & governance 9 assessed
Expected standard 7
Needs attention 2
Personal development 9 assessed
Expected standard 8
Strong standard 1
Safeguarding 9 assessed
Met 9
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 1
Good 13
Requires improvement 2
Not judged 8
LOCAL SCHOOLS

School directory

View all schools
School Phase Pupils Capacity Latest Ofsted position
Abbey Hill Primary & Nursery URN 150098 · NG17 7NZ Primary 218 322 Good
Annesley Primary and Nursery School URN 122404 · NG17 9BW Primary 218 236 Ungraded inspection
Bagthorpe Primary School URN 122578 · NG16 5HB Primary 162 165 Not judged
Beardall Fields Primary and Nursery School URN 122584 · NG15 8HY Primary 433 420 Renewed framework
Brierley Forest Primary and Nursery School URN 149209 · NG17 2HT Primary 258 420 Renewed framework
Broomhill Junior School URN 122585 · NG15 6AJ Primary 276 300 Ungraded inspection
Butler's Hill Infant and Nursery School URN 122586 · NG15 6AJ Primary 238 225 Ungraded inspection
Croft Primary School URN 122463 · NG17 5FJ Primary 364 420 Not judged
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 129,572 2024
East Midlands region 5,063,164
Ashfield represents 2.56% of the region's population
Five-year population change
+3,051 residents ↑ 2.4%
2019: 126,521 residents2020: 126,687 residents2021: 126,356 residents2022: 127,126 residents2023: 128,449 residents2024: 129,572 residents
Ashfield +2.4%
East Midlands +4.5%
England +4.3%
Growth context

Ashfield's population grew over five years. Its change was 2.1 percentage points below the East Midlands and 1.8 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 Ashfield?

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

DWP · May 2026
PEOPLE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT 18,496 14.3% of the 2024 resident population May 2026
CHANGE IN 12 MONTHS +8.6% +1,469 people
LATEST MONTHLY CHANGE +0.5% +99 since April 2026
LOCAL CONTEXT

Universal Credit recipients as a share of population

Comparison using 2024 resident population estimates.

May 2026
Ashfield LOCAL AUTHORITY
14.3%
East Midlands REGION
11.8%
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
18,551 16,738 14,925
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
£23.92m 2024/25 actual outturn
Net revenue expenditure
£17.70m 2024/25 actual outturn
Council Tax requirement
£7.54m 2024/25 actual outturn
Unallocated reserves
£10.95m 2024/25 actual outturn
Service expenditure per resident £185
Median for councils of the same type £166 11.5% above peer median
2024/25 SERVICE SPENDING

Where the money was spent

Net current expenditure after service income.

Actual outturn
Central services Gross £18.39m · Income £11.83m
£6.57m
Environmental and regulatory services Gross £13.75m · Income £7.27m
£6.48m
Planning and development Gross £5.65m · Income £982.0k
£4.66m
Housing Gross £5.73m · Income £1.15m
£4.58m
Highways and transport Gross £2.04m · Income £333.0k
£1.71m
Culture and related services Gross £1.08m · Income £1.15m
£-78.0k
CORE FUNDING

Selected funding sources

Major financing lines in the central return.

Council Tax requirement£7.54m
Retained business rates£10.55m
Revenue Support Grant£423.0k
UNALLOCATED RESERVES

Financial buffer

General unallocated reserves during the year.

Opening £10.00m
Closing £10.95m
£947.0k 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
£77.35m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Investments and cash
£52.10m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Net debt
£25.25m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Net debt per resident
£195 Per resident using latest population
This council's net debt per resident £195
Median for non-metropolitan district councils £95 104.7% higher than the peer median
QUARTERLY TREND

Borrowing, investments and net debt

2020/21 Q1 to 2026/27 Q1.

£12.99m quarterly reduction
2020/21 Q12021/22 Q32023/24 Q12024/25 Q32026/27 Q1
Latest quarterly movement −£12.99m −34.0%
Change across the series −£50.59m 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£52.35m
Other longer-term borrowing£25.00m
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
£12.21m Total outstanding at financial year-end
Collection rate
96.08% Collected against the in-year debit
Council tax written off
£208,000 Written off during the financial year
Council tax collected
£85.63m 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
£12.21m
CHANGE SINCE 2021/22
+ 63.1%
+ £4.72m
ENGLAND CHANGE
+49.5%
£7.48m 2021/22 £8.93m 2022/23 £9.87m 2023/24 £10.85m 2024/25 £12.21m 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.

£12.21m outstanding
CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR £3.72m

30.5% of outstanding arrears

EARLIER FINANCIAL YEARS £8.48m

69.5% 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 96.08%

England average: 95.60%  ·  0.48 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 — Ashfieldmhclg housing delivery testHDT 2025–HDT 2025importedOpen
MHCLG district planning application decisions (PS2) — Ashfieldmhclg planning ps21979 Q2–2026 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1) — Ashfieldmhclg planning ps11996 Q2–2026 Q1importedOpen
Defra local authority waste statistics — Ashfield District Councildefra local authority waste2010/11–2024/25importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2023/24 — Ashfieldmhclg revenue outturn rsx2023/24importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2023/24 — Ashfieldmhclg revenue outturn rs2023/24importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2022/23 — Ashfieldmhclg revenue outturn rsx2022/23importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2022/23 — Ashfieldmhclg revenue outturn rs2022/23importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2021/22 — Ashfieldmhclg revenue outturn rsx2021/22importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2021/22 — Ashfieldmhclg revenue outturn rs2021/22importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2020/21 — Ashfieldmhclg revenue outturn rsx2020/21importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2020/21 — Ashfieldmhclg revenue outturn rs2020/21importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q4 — Ashfieldmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q3 — Ashfieldmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q2 — Ashfieldmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q1 — Ashfieldmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q4 — Ashfieldmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q3 — Ashfieldmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q2 — Ashfieldmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q1 — Ashfieldmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q4 — Ashfieldmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q3 — Ashfieldmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q2 — Ashfieldmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q1 — Ashfieldmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q4 — Ashfieldmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q3 — Ashfieldmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q2 — Ashfieldmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q1 — Ashfieldmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q4 — Ashfieldmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q3 — Ashfieldmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q2 — Ashfieldmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q1 — Ashfieldmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q4 — Ashfieldmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q3 — Ashfieldmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q2 — Ashfieldmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q1 — Ashfieldmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2026/27 Q1 — Ashfieldmhclg borrowing investment2026/27 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2024/25 — Ashfieldmhclg revenue outturn rsx2024/25importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2024/25 — Ashfieldmhclg 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.