West Midlands · Non-metropolitan district

Cannock Chase

2026/27 view

Cannock Chase · ONS E07000192

Financial position as at 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

View sources

COUNCIL AT A GLANCE

Who runs the council and its current position

44/ 100

COUNCILMETRICS FINANCIAL HEALTH SCORE

Under pressure

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

164 councils in peer group Rank 100 of 164 High confidence 2024/25 outturn · 2026/27 Q1 debt How this is calculated

Reserves cover37

Debt burden49

Liquidity66

Debt direction18

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

Net debt £13.45m 2026/27 Q1 vs 2025/26 Q4

+£928.0k 7.4%

Service expenditure £19.47m 2024/25 vs 2023/24

+£1.09m 5.9%

Unallocated reserves £2.27m 2024/25 vs 2023/24

+£1.34m 143.9%

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 £19.47m

27.0%

Net revenue expenditure £14.25m

8.4%

Council Tax requirement £8.20m

13.5%

Unallocated reserves £2.27m

98.1%

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 population104,0882024 estimate

Latest net debt£13.45m2026/27 Q1 quarter end

WASTE & RECYCLING

What happens to household waste?

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

2024/25

35.3%recycled

Household recycling rate

Recycling rate fell

4.7 percentage points vs 2023/24

145 of 196 peer authorities Peer median 42.1%

Residual waste503.4 kgper household+13.7 kg year on year

Waste collected342.9 kgper resident−20.5 kg year on year

Household waste35,875tonnes collected12,660 tonnes recycled

WHERE HOUSEHOLD WASTE WENT

Recycled versus residual waste

12,660 t recycled, composted or reused 23,215 t not recycled

RECYCLING RATE TREND

10 years of official data

35.3%

2015/162024/25

EDUCATION

Schools and education

Schools, pupil numbers and latest education outcomes across Cannock Chase.

2024/25

SCHOOLS & PUPILS

Education at a glance

Explore schools

40 Open schools

13,722 Pupils

16,135 School places

85.0% Capacity utilisation

ATTAINMENT & OUTCOMES

Key Stage 4

Published outcomes for pupils living in Cannock Chase.

Attainment 8

43.4

West Midlands 44.6

England 46.1

2.7 points below England

English & maths grade 5+

35.8%

West Midlands 41.7%

England 45.4%

9.6 percentage points below England

EBacc entry

17.9%

West Midlands 37.9%

England 40.5%

22.6 percentage points below England

PROGRESS

Progress 8

-0.22

Latest published Progress 8 score, 2023/24.

A score of 0 represents the national average.

TREND

Attainment 8 over time

43.2 18/19

48.3 19/20

48.0 20/21

46.3 21/22

43.7 22/23

42.0 23/24

43.4 24/25

Education context

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

2025

Median house price

£227,500

+ 25.7% over five years

Median resident earnings

£36,140

+ 32.1% over five years

House price to earnings

6.29×

Improved from 6.62× five years ago

PRIVATE RENTING

Average monthly private rent

Typical private rental cost across all property types in Cannock Chase.

£859 / month

+ 6.0% in the last year

July 2026

Cannock Chase

£859

+ 6.0%

West Midlands

£974

+ 4.5%

England

£1,451

+ 3.8%

Compared with West Midlands £115 less per month

Compared with England £592 less per month

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Housing affordability

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

Cannock Chase

6.29×

West Midlands

6.80×

England

7.64×

Compared with West 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 received90this quarter+26 vs 2025 Q4

Applications decided57this quarter−2 vs 2025 Q4

Outstanding applications—at quarter end

96.5%approved

Overall approval rate55 granted2 refused+13.4 pts vs previous quarter

DECISION TIMELINESS

Decisions made within time

100.0%

Rank 1 of 294 reporting authoritiesNational median 92.5%

8.5 percentage points higher than 2025 Q4

APPLICATION MIX

Performance by development type

TypeDecisionsApprovedIn time Major1100.0%100.0% Minor2290.9%100.0% Other34100.0%100.0%

QUARTERLY FLOW

Applications through the system

Last 8 quarters

HOUSING DELIVERY TEST

Homes delivered against requirement

115%

Required771homes over three years

Delivered884homes over three years

100% requirement

No consequenceHDT 2025 government assessment

CRIME & POLICING

Police-recorded crime

Latest police-recorded crime figures for Cannock Chase, excluding fraud.

Year ending Mar 2026

Recorded offences 7,520 Total police-recorded crime excluding fraud

Crime rate 72.2 offences per 1,000 residents

Annual change + 0.2% compared with the previous year

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Recorded crime rate

Offences per 1,000 residents

Cannock Chase Your council

72.2 + 0.2%

West Midlands Region

82.2 − 1.2%

England National

83.4 − 1.5%

Cannock Chase has a recorded crime rate 12.2% below West Midlands. It is 13.4% below the England rate.

OFFENCE PROFILE

Recorded crime by category

Staffordshire

Violence 3,400

32.7 per 1,000 + 8.5%

Theft 1,874

18.0 per 1,000 − 16.0%

Public order 706

6.8 per 1,000 + 2.3%

Criminal damage 526

5.1 per 1,000 + 1.2%

Shoplifting 783

7.5 per 1,000 − 18.2%

Vehicle offences 420

4.0 per 1,000 − 15.0%

Burglary 188

1.8 per 1,000 − 19.3%

Drug offences 305

2.9 per 1,000 + 31.5%

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 Cannock Chase.

40 schools

Open schools 40

Pupils 13,722

School places 16,135

Capacity used 85.0%

Primary 28 schools

7,707 pupils

Secondary 6 schools

5,538 pupils

Other / specialist 5 schools

465 pupils

Nursery 1 school

12 pupils

CURRENT POSITION

Inspection coverage

Latest Ofsted management information

Renewed framework 6

15.0% of open schools

Previous full framework 15

37.5% of open schools

Ungraded inspection 17

42.5% of open schools

No Ofsted record 2

5.0% of open schools

RENEWED FRAMEWORK

Latest inspection standards

6 schools assessed

Achievement 6 assessed

Expected standard 3

Strong standard 3

Attendance & behaviour 6 assessed

Expected standard 3

Strong standard 3

Curriculum & teaching 6 assessed

Expected standard 3

Strong standard 3

Inclusion 6 assessed

Strong standard 6

Leadership & governance 6 assessed

Expected standard 4

Strong standard 2

Personal development 6 assessed

Strong standard 5

Expected standard 1

Safeguarding 6 assessed

Met 6

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.

Good 12

Requires improvement 1

Not judged 2

LOCAL SCHOOLS

School directory

View all schools

School	Phase	Pupils	Capacity	Latest Ofsted position
Bridgtown Primary School URN 124067 · WS11 0AZ	Primary	328	472	Ungraded inspection
Chadsmoor CofE (VC) Junior School URN 124240 · WS11 6DR	Primary	221	240	Ungraded inspection
Chadsmoor Community Infants and Nursery School URN 124068 · WS11 6EU	Primary	146	180	Good
Chancel Primary School URN 124168 · WS15 2EW	Primary	210	210	Not judged
Chase View Community Primary School URN 134666 · WS15 1NE	Primary	185	236	Good
Churchfield CofE Primary Academy URN 144386 · WS15 2LB	Primary	155	236	Good
Etching Hill CofE Primary Academy URN 147424 · WS15 2XY	Primary	460	420	Ungraded inspection
Five Ways Primary School URN 124070 · WS12 2EZ	Primary	597	630	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 104,088 2024

West Midlands region 6,187,204

Five-year population change

+5,105 residents ↑ 5.2%

Cannock Chase +5.2%

West Midlands +4.5%

England +4.3%

Growth context

Cannock Chase's population grew over five years. Its change was 0.7 percentage points above the West Midlands and 0.9 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 Cannock Chase?

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

DWP · May 2026

PEOPLE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT 12,475 12.0% of the 2024 resident population May 2026

CHANGE IN 12 MONTHS +8.1% +933 people

LATEST MONTHLY CHANGE +0.4% +50 since April 2026

LOCAL CONTEXT

Universal Credit recipients as a share of population

Comparison using 2024 resident population estimates.

May 2026

Cannock Chase LOCAL AUTHORITY

12.0%

West Midlands REGION

13.9%

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

12,490 11,361 10,232

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 8.3 µg/m³

Provisional

Last 24 hours 2.3 – 8.3 µg/m³

Cannock A5190 Roadside Automatic Urban and Rural Monitoring Network (AURN) · Urban Traffic 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

£19.47m 2024/25 actual outturn

Net revenue expenditure

£14.25m 2024/25 actual outturn

Council Tax requirement

£8.20m 2024/25 actual outturn

Unallocated reserves

£2.27m 2024/25 actual outturn

Service expenditure per resident £187

Median for councils of the same type £166 13.0% 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 £8.29m · Income £2.46m

£5.84m

Culture and related services Gross £5.32m · Income £937.0k

£4.38m

Planning and development Gross £5.02m · Income £1.68m

£3.34m

Central services Gross £22.44m · Income £19.18m

£3.26m

Housing Gross £4.85m · Income £2.02m

£2.83m

Highways and transport Gross £660.0k · Income £837.0k

£-177.0k

CORE FUNDING

Selected funding sources

Major financing lines in the central return.

Council Tax requirement£8.20m

Retained business rates£8.77m

Revenue Support Grant£131.0k

UNALLOCATED RESERVES

Financial buffer

General unallocated reserves during the year.

Opening £1.47m

Closing £2.27m

£797.0k 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

£77.21m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Investments and cash

£63.76m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Net debt

£13.45m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Net debt per resident

£129 Per resident using latest population

This council's net debt per resident £129

Median for non-metropolitan district councils £95 35.7% higher than the peer median

QUARTERLY TREND

Borrowing, investments and net debt

2020/21 Q1 to 2026/27 Q1.

£928.0k quarterly increase

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

Latest quarterly movement +£928.0k +7.4%

Change across the series −£27.84m 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£77.21m

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

£12.70m Total outstanding at financial year-end

Collection rate

96.78% Collected against the in-year debit

Council tax written off

£602,000 Written off during the financial year

Council tax collected

£67.82m 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

£12.70m

CHANGE SINCE 2021/22

+ 32.1%

+ £3.08m

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.

£12.70m outstanding

CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR £2.38m

18.8% of outstanding arrears

EARLIER FINANCIAL YEARS £10.31m

81.2% 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 96.78%

England average: 95.60% · 1.18 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 — Cannock Chase	mhclg housing delivery test	HDT 2025–HDT 2025	imported	Open
MHCLG district planning application decisions (PS2) — Cannock Chase	mhclg planning ps2	1979 Q2–2026 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1) — Cannock Chase	mhclg planning ps1	1996 Q2–2026 Q1	imported	Open
Defra local authority waste statistics — Cannock Chase Council	defra local authority waste	2010/11–2024/25	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2023/24 — Cannock Chase	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2023/24	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2023/24 — Cannock Chase	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2023/24	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2022/23 — Cannock Chase	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2022/23	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2022/23 — Cannock Chase	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2022/23	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2021/22 — Cannock Chase	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2021/22	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2021/22 — Cannock Chase	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2021/22	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2020/21 — Cannock Chase	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2020/21	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2020/21 — Cannock Chase	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2020/21	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q4 — Cannock Chase	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q3 — Cannock Chase	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q2 — Cannock Chase	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q1 — Cannock Chase	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q4 — Cannock Chase	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q3 — Cannock Chase	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q2 — Cannock Chase	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q1 — Cannock Chase	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q4 — Cannock Chase	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q3 — Cannock Chase	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q2 — Cannock Chase	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q1 — Cannock Chase	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q4 — Cannock Chase	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q3 — Cannock Chase	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q2 — Cannock Chase	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q1 — Cannock Chase	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q4 — Cannock Chase	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q3 — Cannock Chase	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q2 — Cannock Chase	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q1 — Cannock Chase	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q4 — Cannock Chase	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q3 — Cannock Chase	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q2 — Cannock Chase	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q1 — Cannock Chase	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2026/27 Q1 — Cannock Chase	mhclg borrowing investment	2026/27 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2024/25 — Cannock Chase	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2024/25	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2024/25 — Cannock Chase	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.