East of England · Non-metropolitan district

Cambridge

2026/27 view

Cambridge · ONS E07000008

Financial position as at 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

View sources

COUNCIL AT A GLANCE

Who runs the council and its current position

54/ 100

COUNCILMETRICS FINANCIAL HEALTH SCORE

Mixed

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

164 councils in peer group Rank 71 of 164 High confidence 2024/25 outturn · 2026/27 Q1 debt How this is calculated

Reserves cover91

Debt burden12

Liquidity34

Debt direction78

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

Net debt £231.93m 2026/27 Q1 vs 2025/26 Q4

−£51.03m 18.0%

Service expenditure £39.09m 2024/25 vs 2023/24

−£674.0k 1.7%

Unallocated reserves £18.86m 2024/25 vs 2023/24

−£22.26m 54.1%

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 £39.09m

2.5%

Net revenue expenditure £21.68m

0.3%

Council Tax requirement £10.25m

13.9%

Unallocated reserves £18.86m

13.7%

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 population149,3522024 estimate

Latest net debt£231.93m2026/27 Q1 quarter end

WASTE & RECYCLING

What happens to household waste?

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

2015/16

42.7%recycled

Household recycling rate

Recycling rate fell

0.4 percentage points vs 2014/15

100 of 192 peer authorities Peer median 43.3%

Residual waste497.5 kgper household−9.3 kg year on year

Waste collected357.0 kgper resident−2.0 kg year on year

Household waste46,751tonnes collected19,953 tonnes recycled

WHERE HOUSEHOLD WASTE WENT

Recycled versus residual waste

19,953 t recycled, composted or reused 26,798 t not recycled

RECYCLING RATE TREND

6 years of official data

42.7%

2010/112015/16

EDUCATION

Schools and education

Schools, pupil numbers and latest education outcomes across Cambridge.

2024/25

SCHOOLS & PUPILS

Education at a glance

Explore schools

62 Open schools

22,264 Pupils

27,871 School places

79.9% Capacity utilisation

ATTAINMENT & OUTCOMES

Key Stage 4

Published outcomes for pupils living in Cambridge.

Attainment 8

54.0

East of England 46.2

England 46.1

7.9 points above England

English & maths grade 5+

59.3%

East of England 45.9%

England 45.4%

13.9 percentage points above England

EBacc entry

51.5%

East of England 40.0%

England 40.5%

11.0 percentage points above England

PROGRESS

Progress 8

0.51

Latest published Progress 8 score, 2023/24.

A score of 0 represents the national average.

TREND

Attainment 8 over time

52.7 18/19

54.7 19/20

56.2 20/21

54.6 21/22

54.3 22/23

53.5 23/24

54.0 24/25

Education context

Cambridge's latest Key Stage 4 outcomes are above both East of England 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 Cambridge, based on the earnings of local residents.

2025

Median house price

£495,000

+ 13.8% over five years

Median resident earnings

£43,741

+ 25.3% over five years

House price to earnings

11.32×

Improved from 12.46× five years ago

PRIVATE RENTING

Average monthly private rent

Typical private rental cost across all property types in Cambridge.

£1,806 / month

+ 1.9% in the last year

July 2026

Cambridge

£1,806

+ 1.9%

East of England

£1,285

+ 3.7%

England

£1,451

+ 3.8%

Compared with East of England £521 more per month

Compared with England £355 more per month

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Housing affordability

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

Cambridge

11.32×

East of England

8.52×

England

7.64×

Compared with East of England 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 received292this quarter+34 vs 2025 Q4

Applications decided218this quarter−19 vs 2025 Q4

Outstanding applications—at quarter end

90.4%approved

Overall approval rate197 granted21 refused+0.1 pts vs previous quarter

DECISION TIMELINESS

Decisions made within time

95.4%

Rank 92 of 294 reporting authoritiesNational median 92.5%

5.1 percentage points higher than 2025 Q4

APPLICATION MIX

Performance by development type

TypeDecisionsApprovedIn time Major366.7%100.0% Minor6586.2%90.8% Other15092.7%97.3%

QUARTERLY FLOW

Applications through the system

Last 8 quarters

HOUSING DELIVERY TEST

Homes delivered against requirement

82%

Required2,077homes over three years

Delivered1,712homes over three years

100% requirement

20% bufferHDT 2025 government assessment

CRIME & POLICING

Police-recorded crime

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

Year ending Mar 2026

Recorded offences 13,699 Total police-recorded crime excluding fraud

Crime rate 91.7 offences per 1,000 residents

Annual change − 6.9% compared with the previous year

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Recorded crime rate

Offences per 1,000 residents

Cambridge Your council

91.7 − 6.9%

East of England Region

68.4 − 0.1%

England National

83.4 − 1.5%

Cambridge has a recorded crime rate 34.0% above East of England. It is 9.9% above the England rate.

OFFENCE PROFILE

Recorded crime by category

Cambridgeshire

Violence 4,095

27.4 per 1,000 + 0.4%

Theft 5,709

38.2 per 1,000 − 17.1%

Public order 1,028

6.9 per 1,000 − 15.0%

Criminal damage 1,052

7.0 per 1,000 − 12.3%

Shoplifting 2,298

15.4 per 1,000 − 19.0%

Vehicle offences 632

4.2 per 1,000 − 1.6%

Burglary 528

3.5 per 1,000 − 15.5%

Drug offences 703

4.7 per 1,000 + 125.3%

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 Cambridge.

62 schools

Open schools 62

Pupils 22,264

School places 27,871

Capacity used 79.9%

Primary 27 schools

7,886 pupils

Other / specialist 19 schools

7,617 pupils

Secondary 8 schools

6,303 pupils

Nursery 5 schools

359 pupils

16+ provision 3 schools

99 pupils

CURRENT POSITION

Inspection coverage

Latest Ofsted management information

Renewed framework 7

11.3% of open schools

Previous full framework 20

32.3% of open schools

Ungraded inspection 15

24.2% of open schools

No Ofsted record 20

32.3% of open schools

RENEWED FRAMEWORK

Latest inspection standards

7 schools assessed

Achievement 7 assessed

Needs attention 3

Expected standard 2

Strong standard 2

Attendance & behaviour 7 assessed

Expected standard 3

Strong standard 3

Needs attention 1

Curriculum & teaching 7 assessed

Expected standard 4

Strong standard 2

Needs attention 1

Inclusion 7 assessed

Expected standard 5

Strong standard 2

Leadership & governance 7 assessed

Expected standard 5

Strong standard 2

Personal development 7 assessed

Expected standard 4

Strong standard 3

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 1

Good 13

Requires improvement 2

Not judged 4

LOCAL SCHOOLS

School directory

View all schools

School	Phase	Pupils	Capacity	Latest Ofsted position
Arbury Primary School URN 110664 · CB4 2DE	Primary	380	420	Ungraded inspection
Bewick Bridge Community Primary School URN 110746 · CB1 9ND	Primary	222	240	Renewed framework
Cherry Hinton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School URN 110801 · CB1 9HH	Primary	177	180	Good
Chesterton Primary School URN 139556 · CB4 1RW	Primary	173	210	Ungraded inspection
Colville Primary School URN 110665 · CB1 9EJ	Primary	221	210	Not judged
Fawcett Primary School URN 110766 · CB2 9FS	Primary	356	420	Renewed framework
Kings Hedges Primary School URN 110775 · CB4 2HU	Primary	389	420	Ungraded inspection
Mayfield Primary School URN 110666 · CB4 3HN	Primary	398	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 149,352 2024

East of England region 6,576,306

Five-year population change

+6,199 residents ↑ 4.3%

Cambridge +4.3%

East of England +4.8%

England +4.3%

Growth context

Cambridge's population grew over five years. Its change was broadly in line with the East of England 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 Cambridge?

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

DWP · May 2026

PEOPLE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT 11,053 7.4% of the 2024 resident population May 2026

CHANGE IN 12 MONTHS +8.4% +856 people

LATEST MONTHLY CHANGE +0.7% +73 since April 2026

LOCAL CONTEXT

Universal Credit recipients as a share of population

Comparison using 2024 resident population estimates.

May 2026

Cambridge LOCAL AUTHORITY

7.4%

East of England REGION

10.3%

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

11,129 10,053 8,977

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 6.4 µg/m³

Provisional

Last 24 hours 2.7 – 9.4 µg/m³

Cambridge King's Hedges Automatic Urban and Rural Monitoring Network (AURN) · Urban 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

£39.09m 2024/25 actual outturn

Net revenue expenditure

£21.68m 2024/25 actual outturn

Council Tax requirement

£10.25m 2024/25 actual outturn

Unallocated reserves

£18.86m 2024/25 actual outturn

Service expenditure per resident £262

Median for councils of the same type £166 58.1% above peer median

2024/25 SERVICE SPENDING

Where the money was spent

Net current expenditure after service income.

Actual outturn

Central services Gross £22.87m · Income £5.30m

£17.57m

Environmental and regulatory services Gross £12.58m · Income £3.37m

£9.22m

Housing Gross £9.89m · Income £2.22m

£7.67m

Planning and development Gross £8.67m · Income £3.33m

£5.34m

Culture and related services Gross £12.74m · Income £7.59m

£5.15m

Highways and transport Gross £3.84m · Income £9.69m

£-5.85m

CORE FUNDING

Selected funding sources

Major financing lines in the central return.

Council Tax requirement£10.25m

Retained business rates£12.30m

Revenue Support Grant£170.0k

UNALLOCATED RESERVES

Financial buffer

General unallocated reserves during the year.

Opening £40.84m

Closing £18.86m

£21.98m decrease 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

£298.57m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Investments and cash

£66.64m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Net debt

£231.93m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Net debt per resident

£1,553 Per resident using latest population

This council's net debt per resident £1,553

Median for non-metropolitan district councils £95 1,530.9% higher than the peer median

QUARTERLY TREND

Borrowing, investments and net debt

2020/21 Q1 to 2026/27 Q1.

£51.03m quarterly reduction

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

Latest quarterly movement −£51.03m −18.0%

Change across the series +£143.60m 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£213.57m

Other longer-term borrowing£85.00m

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

£4.22m Total outstanding at financial year-end

Collection rate

98.09% Collected against the in-year debit

Council tax written off

£141,000 Written off during the financial year

Council tax collected

£107.02m 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

£4.22m

CHANGE SINCE 2021/22

− 23.0%

− £1.26m

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.

£4.22m outstanding

CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR £2.20m

52.2% of outstanding arrears

EARLIER FINANCIAL YEARS £2.02m

47.8% 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 98.09%

England average: 95.60% · 2.49 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 — Cambridge	mhclg housing delivery test	HDT 2025–HDT 2025	imported	Open
MHCLG district planning application decisions (PS2) — Cambridge	mhclg planning ps2	1979 Q2–2026 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1) — Cambridge	mhclg planning ps1	1996 Q2–2026 Q1	imported	Open
Defra local authority waste statistics — Cambridge City Council	defra local authority waste	2010/11–2015/16	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2023/24 — Cambridge	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2023/24	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2023/24 — Cambridge	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2023/24	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2022/23 — Cambridge	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2022/23	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2022/23 — Cambridge	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2022/23	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2021/22 — Cambridge	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2021/22	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2021/22 — Cambridge	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2021/22	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2020/21 — Cambridge	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2020/21	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2020/21 — Cambridge	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2020/21	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q4 — Cambridge	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q3 — Cambridge	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q2 — Cambridge	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q1 — Cambridge	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q4 — Cambridge	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q3 — Cambridge	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q2 — Cambridge	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q1 — Cambridge	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q4 — Cambridge	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q3 — Cambridge	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q2 — Cambridge	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q1 — Cambridge	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q4 — Cambridge	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q3 — Cambridge	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q2 — Cambridge	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q1 — Cambridge	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q4 — Cambridge	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q3 — Cambridge	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q2 — Cambridge	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q1 — Cambridge	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q4 — Cambridge	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q3 — Cambridge	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q2 — Cambridge	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q1 — Cambridge	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2026/27 Q1 — Cambridge	mhclg borrowing investment	2026/27 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2024/25 — Cambridge	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2024/25	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2024/25 — Cambridge	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.