South West · Non-metropolitan district

East Devon

2026/27 view

East Devon · ONS E07000040

Financial position as at 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

View sources

COUNCIL AT A GLANCE

Who runs the council and its current position

42/ 100

COUNCILMETRICS FINANCIAL HEALTH SCORE

Under pressure

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

164 councils in peer group Rank 105 of 164 High confidence 2024/25 outturn · 2026/27 Q1 debt How this is calculated

Reserves cover50

Debt burden40

Liquidity52

Debt direction12

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

Net debt £42.46m 2026/27 Q1 vs 2025/26 Q4

+£4.20m 11.0%

Service expenditure £28.94m 2024/25 vs 2023/24

−£217.0k 0.7%

Unallocated reserves £4.80m 2024/25 vs 2023/24

−£9.81m 67.1%

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 £28.94m

34.1%

Net revenue expenditure £22.43m

10.4%

Council Tax requirement £16.13m

23.3%

Unallocated reserves £4.80m

68.1%

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 population158,2392024 estimate

Latest net debt£42.46m2026/27 Q1 quarter end

WASTE & RECYCLING

What happens to household waste?

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

2024/25

60.1%recycled

Household recycling rate

More waste recycled

0.0 percentage points vs 2023/24

4 of 196 peer authorities Peer median 42.1%

Residual waste256.3 kgper household+0.2 kg year on year

Waste collected304.6 kgper resident−0.7 kg year on year

Household waste48,294tonnes collected29,045 tonnes recycled

WHERE HOUSEHOLD WASTE WENT

Recycled versus residual waste

29,045 t recycled, composted or reused 19,249 t not recycled

RECYCLING RATE TREND

10 years of official data

60.1%

2015/162024/25

EDUCATION

Schools and education

Schools, pupil numbers and latest education outcomes across East Devon.

2024/25

SCHOOLS & PUPILS

Education at a glance

Explore schools

70 Open schools

19,091 Pupils

21,535 School places

88.7% Capacity utilisation

ATTAINMENT & OUTCOMES

Key Stage 4

Published outcomes for pupils living in East Devon.

Attainment 8

47.1

South West 46.2

England 46.1

1.0 points above England

English & maths grade 5+

47.9%

South West 46.2%

England 45.4%

2.5 percentage points above England

EBacc entry

33.9%

South West 33.0%

England 40.5%

6.6 percentage points below England

PROGRESS

Progress 8

-0.03

Latest published Progress 8 score, 2023/24.

A score of 0 represents the national average.

TREND

Attainment 8 over time

48.1 18/19

53.4 19/20

53.8 20/21

51.1 21/22

47.6 22/23

48.1 23/24

47.1 24/25

Education context

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

Department for Education · Key Stage 4 performance · Pupil residency

HOUSING & AFFORDABILITY

Housing costs and local earnings

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

2025

Median house price

£335,000

+ 18.0% over five years

Median resident earnings

£40,087

+ 36.1% over five years

House price to earnings

8.36×

Improved from 9.64× five years ago

PRIVATE RENTING

Average monthly private rent

Typical private rental cost across all property types in East Devon.

£965 / month

+ 6.1% in the last year

July 2026

East Devon

£965

+ 6.1%

South West

£1,236

+ 4.5%

England

£1,451

+ 3.8%

Compared with South West £271 less per month

Compared with England £486 less per month

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Housing affordability

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

East Devon

8.36×

South West

8.26×

England

7.64×

Compared with South West 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 received330this quarter+17 vs 2025 Q4

Applications decided318this quarter+36 vs 2025 Q4

Outstanding applications—at quarter end

87.4%approved

Overall approval rate278 granted40 refused−3.0 pts vs previous quarter

DECISION TIMELINESS

Decisions made within time

78.3%

Rank 272 of 294 reporting authoritiesNational median 92.5%

2.2 percentage points lower than 2025 Q4

APPLICATION MIX

Performance by development type

TypeDecisionsApprovedIn time Major1283.3%91.7% Minor10577.1%64.8% Other20193.0%84.6%

QUARTERLY FLOW

Applications through the system

Last 8 quarters

HOUSING DELIVERY TEST

Homes delivered against requirement

84%

Required2,749homes over three years

Delivered2,316homes over three years

100% requirement

20% bufferHDT 2025 government assessment

CRIME & POLICING

Police-recorded crime

Latest police-recorded crime figures for East Devon, excluding fraud.

Year ending Mar 2026

Recorded offences 11,098 Total police-recorded crime excluding fraud

Crime rate 45.6 offences per 1,000 residents

Annual change + 0.7% compared with the previous year

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Recorded crime rate

Offences per 1,000 residents

East Devon Your council

45.6 + 0.7%

South West Region

73.5 + 1.3%

England National

83.4 − 1.5%

East Devon has a recorded crime rate 37.9% below South West. It is 45.3% below the England rate.

OFFENCE PROFILE

Recorded crime by category

Devon and Cornwall

Violence 5,356

22.0 per 1,000 + 7.0%

Theft 2,258

9.3 per 1,000 − 5.0%

Public order 762

3.1 per 1,000 − 6.7%

Criminal damage 1,305

5.4 per 1,000 + 0.4%

Shoplifting 572

2.4 per 1,000 − 8.0%

Vehicle offences 306

1.3 per 1,000 + 22.9%

Burglary 375

1.5 per 1,000 − 25.4%

Drug offences 264

1.1 per 1,000 − 22.4%

Crime figures cover the East and Mid Devon Community Safety Partnership, including East Devon, Mid Devon.

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 East Devon.

70 schools

Open schools 70

Pupils 19,091

School places 21,535

Capacity used 88.7%

Primary 55 schools

10,014 pupils

Other / specialist 7 schools

653 pupils

Secondary 7 schools

7,358 pupils

All-through 1 school

1,066 pupils

CURRENT POSITION

Inspection coverage

Latest Ofsted management information

Renewed framework 4

5.7% of open schools

Previous full framework 42

60.0% of open schools

Ungraded inspection 19

27.1% of open schools

No Ofsted record 5

7.1% of open schools

RENEWED FRAMEWORK

Latest inspection standards

4 schools assessed

Achievement 4 assessed

Expected standard 2

Needs attention 2

Attendance & behaviour 4 assessed

Expected standard 4

Curriculum & teaching 4 assessed

Expected standard 3

Needs attention 1

Inclusion 4 assessed

Expected standard 3

Needs attention 1

Leadership & governance 4 assessed

Expected standard 3

Urgent improvement 1

Personal development 4 assessed

Expected standard 4

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 2

Good 20

Requires improvement 4

Inadequate 3

Not judged 13

LOCAL SCHOOLS

School directory

View all schools

School	Phase	Pupils	Capacity	Latest Ofsted position
All Saints Church of England Primary School URN 143186 · EX13 7LX	Primary	84	140	Not judged
Awliscombe Church of England Primary School URN 113422 · EX14 3PJ	Primary	90	105	Good
Axminster Community Primary Academy URN 141523 · EX13 5BU	Primary	297	315	Not judged
Bassetts Farm Primary School URN 113120 · EX8 4GB	Primary	451	420	Good
Beer Church of England Primary School URN 143190 · EX12 3NB	Primary	94	112	Good
Brampford Speke Church of England Primary School URN 113347 · EX5 5HE	Primary	47	80	Ungraded inspection
Branscombe Church of England Primary School URN 151001 · EX12 3DA	Primary	6	70	Ungraded inspection
Brixington Primary Academy URN 142044 · EX8 4JQ	Primary	351	420	Renewed framework

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 158,239 2024

South West region 5,889,695

Five-year population change

+10,893 residents ↑ 7.4%

East Devon +7.4%

South West +4.4%

England +4.3%

Growth context

East Devon's population grew over five years. Its change was 3.0 percentage points above the South West and 3.1 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 East Devon?

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

DWP · May 2026

PEOPLE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT 12,635 8.0% of the 2024 resident population May 2026

CHANGE IN 12 MONTHS +7.8% +913 people

LATEST MONTHLY CHANGE +0.3% +33 since April 2026

LOCAL CONTEXT

Universal Credit recipients as a share of population

Comparison using 2024 resident population estimates.

May 2026

East Devon LOCAL AUTHORITY

8.0%

South West REGION

10.0%

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

12,635 11,504 10,372

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 4.4 µg/m³

Provisional

Last 24 hours 1.6 – 4.9 µg/m³

Honiton Automatic Urban and Rural Monitoring Network (AURN) · Urban Background Latest measurement: 2026-09-22 13:00:00+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

£28.94m 2024/25 actual outturn

Net revenue expenditure

£22.43m 2024/25 actual outturn

Council Tax requirement

£16.13m 2024/25 actual outturn

Unallocated reserves

£4.80m 2024/25 actual outturn

Service expenditure per resident £183

Median for councils of the same type £166 10.5% 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 £17.73m · Income £5.18m

£12.55m

Culture and related services Gross £8.58m · Income £2.61m

£5.97m

Planning and development Gross £8.82m · Income £3.72m

£5.11m

Central services Gross £19.75m · Income £14.74m

£5.01m

Housing Gross £4.74m · Income £1.46m

£3.29m

Highways and transport Gross £1.87m · Income £4.85m

£-2.98m

CORE FUNDING

Selected funding sources

Major financing lines in the central return.

Council Tax requirement£16.13m

Retained business rates£10.74m

Revenue Support Grant£277.0k

UNALLOCATED RESERVES

Financial buffer

General unallocated reserves during the year.

Opening £4.30m

Closing £4.80m

£500.0k 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

£87.41m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Investments and cash

£44.95m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Net debt

£42.46m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Net debt per resident

£268 Per resident using latest population

This council's net debt per resident £268

Median for non-metropolitan district councils £95 181.8% higher than the peer median

QUARTERLY TREND

Borrowing, investments and net debt

2020/21 Q1 to 2026/27 Q1.

£4.20m quarterly increase

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

Latest quarterly movement +£4.20m +11.0%

Change across the series +£24.56m 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£79.18m

Other longer-term borrowing£8.23m

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

£6.50m Total outstanding at financial year-end

Collection rate

98.22% Collected against the in-year debit

Council tax written off

£231,000 Written off during the financial year

Council tax collected

£160.41m 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

£6.50m

CHANGE SINCE 2021/22

+ 79.8%

+ £2.88m

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.

£6.50m outstanding

CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR £2.91m

44.9% of outstanding arrears

EARLIER FINANCIAL YEARS £3.58m

55.1% 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 98.22%

England average: 95.60% · 2.62 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 — East Devon	mhclg housing delivery test	HDT 2025–HDT 2025	imported	Open
MHCLG district planning application decisions (PS2) — East Devon	mhclg planning ps2	1979 Q2–2026 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1) — East Devon	mhclg planning ps1	1996 Q2–2026 Q1	imported	Open
Defra local authority waste statistics — East Devon District Council	defra local authority waste	2010/11–2024/25	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2023/24 — East Devon	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2023/24	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2023/24 — East Devon	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2023/24	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2022/23 — East Devon	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2022/23	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2022/23 — East Devon	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2022/23	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2021/22 — East Devon	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2021/22	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2021/22 — East Devon	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2021/22	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2020/21 — East Devon	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2020/21	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2020/21 — East Devon	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2020/21	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q4 — East Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q3 — East Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q2 — East Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q1 — East Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q4 — East Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q3 — East Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q2 — East Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q1 — East Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q4 — East Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q3 — East Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q2 — East Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q1 — East Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q4 — East Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q3 — East Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q2 — East Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q1 — East Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q4 — East Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q3 — East Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q2 — East Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q1 — East Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q4 — East Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q3 — East Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q2 — East Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q1 — East Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2026/27 Q1 — East Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2026/27 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2024/25 — East Devon	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2024/25	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2024/25 — East Devon	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.