East of England · Non-metropolitan district

East Suffolk

2026/27 view

East Suffolk · ONS E07000244

Financial position as at 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

View sources

COUNCIL AT A GLANCE

Who runs the council and its current position

58/ 100

COUNCILMETRICS FINANCIAL HEALTH SCORE

Mixed

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

164 councils in peer group Rank 64 of 164 High confidence 2024/25 outturn · 2026/27 Q1 debt How this is calculated

Reserves cover26

Debt burden69

Liquidity78

Debt direction80

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

Net debt £-43.05m 2026/27 Q1 vs 2025/26 Q4

−£6.87m 19.0%

Service expenditure £52.53m 2024/25 vs 2023/24

−£18.13m 25.7%

Unallocated reserves £6.00m 2024/25 vs 2023/24

£0.00 0.0%

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 £52.53m

45.3%

Net revenue expenditure £48.95m

37.9%

Council Tax requirement £24.67m

15.1%

Unallocated reserves £6.00m

66.3%

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 population249,6642024 estimate

Latest net debt£-43.05m2026/27 Q1 quarter end

WASTE & RECYCLING

What happens to household waste?

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

2024/25

41.1%recycled

Household recycling rate

Recycling rate fell

0.3 percentage points vs 2023/24

108 of 196 peer authorities Peer median 42.1%

Residual waste455.9 kgper household−11.7 kg year on year

Waste collected380.6 kgper resident−12.6 kg year on year

Household waste95,051tonnes collected39,060 tonnes recycled

WHERE HOUSEHOLD WASTE WENT

Recycled versus residual waste

39,060 t recycled, composted or reused 55,991 t not recycled

RECYCLING RATE TREND

6 years of official data

41.1%

2019/202024/25

EDUCATION

Schools and education

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

2024/25

SCHOOLS & PUPILS

Education at a glance

Explore schools

114 Open schools

31,855 Pupils

39,167 School places

81.3% Capacity utilisation

ATTAINMENT & OUTCOMES

Key Stage 4

Published outcomes for pupils living in East Suffolk.

Attainment 8

42.1

East of England 46.2

England 46.1

4.0 points below England

English & maths grade 5+

38.4%

East of England 45.9%

England 45.4%

7.0 percentage points below England

EBacc entry

20.6%

East of England 40.0%

England 40.5%

19.9 percentage points below England

PROGRESS

Progress 8

-0.21

Latest published Progress 8 score, 2023/24.

A score of 0 represents the national average.

TREND

Attainment 8 over time

47.8 19/20

49.0 20/21

46.5 21/22

43.4 22/23

42.8 23/24

42.1 24/25

Education context

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

2025

Median house price

£289,975

+ 17.2% over five years

Median resident earnings

£36,793

+ 22.6% over five years

House price to earnings

7.88×

Improved from 8.25× five years ago

PRIVATE RENTING

Average monthly private rent

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

£840 / month

+ 4.8% in the last year

July 2026

East Suffolk

£840

+ 4.8%

East of England

£1,285

+ 3.7%

England

£1,451

+ 3.8%

Compared with East of England £445 less per month

Compared with England £611 less per month

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Housing affordability

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

East Suffolk

7.88×

East of England

8.52×

England

7.64×

Compared with East of England 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 received606this quarter+69 vs 2025 Q4

Applications decided436this quarter−38 vs 2025 Q4

Outstanding applications—at quarter end

92.7%approved

Overall approval rate404 granted32 refused+2.8 pts vs previous quarter

DECISION TIMELINESS

Decisions made within time

86.5%

Rank 229 of 294 reporting authoritiesNational median 92.5%

1.7 percentage points higher than 2025 Q4

APPLICATION MIX

Performance by development type

TypeDecisionsApprovedIn time Major1693.8%81.3% Minor11086.4%80.0% Other31094.8%89.0%

QUARTERLY FLOW

Applications through the system

Last 8 quarters

HOUSING DELIVERY TEST

Homes delivered against requirement

91%

Required2,713homes over three years

Delivered2,459homes over three years

100% requirement

Action planHDT 2025 government assessment

CRIME & POLICING

Police-recorded crime

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

Year ending Mar 2026

Recorded offences 12,345 Total police-recorded crime excluding fraud

Crime rate — council-wide rate not published

Annual change — change not available at council level

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Recorded crime rate

Offences per 1,000 residents

East Suffolk Your council

—

East of England Region

68.4 − 0.1%

England National

83.4 − 1.5%

OFFENCE PROFILE

Recorded crime by category

Suffolk

Violence 5,100

Theft 3,227

Public order 716

Criminal damage 1,457

Shoplifting 928

Vehicle offences 538

Burglary 636

Drug offences 361

Figures are derived from the underlying Community Safety Partnership areas: Suffolk Coastal, Waveney.

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 Suffolk.

114 schools

Open schools 114

Pupils 31,855

School places 39,167

Capacity used 81.3%

Primary 84 schools

16,709 pupils

Other / specialist 17 schools

2,533 pupils

Secondary 12 schools

12,613 pupils

16+ provision 1 school

0 pupils

CURRENT POSITION

Inspection coverage

Latest Ofsted management information

Renewed framework 14

12.3% of open schools

Previous full framework 61

53.5% of open schools

Ungraded inspection 25

21.9% of open schools

No Ofsted record 13

11.4% of open schools

No published outcome 1

0.9% of open schools

RENEWED FRAMEWORK

Latest inspection standards

14 schools assessed

Achievement 14 assessed

Expected standard 10

Needs attention 4

Attendance & behaviour 14 assessed

Expected standard 8

Needs attention 4

Strong standard 2

Curriculum & teaching 14 assessed

Expected standard 11

Needs attention 3

Inclusion 14 assessed

Expected standard 11

Strong standard 2

Needs attention 1

Leadership & governance 14 assessed

Expected standard 11

Needs attention 2

Strong standard 1

Personal development 14 assessed

Expected standard 9

Strong standard 5

Safeguarding 14 assessed

Met 14

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 37

Requires improvement 7

Not judged 15

LOCAL SCHOOLS

School directory

View all schools

School	Phase	Pupils	Capacity	Latest Ofsted position
Aldeburgh Primary School URN 144211 · IP15 5EU	Primary	78	105	Good
Barnby and North Cove Community Primary School URN 144828 · NR34 7QB	Primary	91	105	Renewed framework
Bawdsey Church of England Primary School URN 151557 · IP12 3AR	Primary	58	105	Ungraded inspection
Bealings School URN 124595 · IP13 6LW	Primary	104	105	Good
Beccles Primary Academy URN 142017 · NR34 7AB	Primary	148	420	Good
Benhall St Mary's Church of England Primary School URN 149991 · IP17 1HE	Primary	77	105	No published outcome
Birchwood Primary School URN 124681 · IP5 3SP	Primary	209	210	Ungraded inspection
Blundeston Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School URN 124751 · NR32 5AX	Primary	173	210	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 249,664 2024

East of England region 6,576,306

Five-year population change

+4,612 residents ↑ 1.9%

East Suffolk +1.9%

East of England +4.8%

England +4.3%

Growth context

East Suffolk's population grew over five years. Its change was 2.9 percentage points below the East of England and 2.4 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 East Suffolk?

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

DWP · May 2026

PEOPLE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT 26,170 10.5% of the 2024 resident population May 2026

CHANGE IN 12 MONTHS +7.1% +1,734 people

LATEST MONTHLY CHANGE +0.5% +138 since April 2026

LOCAL CONTEXT

Universal Credit recipients as a share of population

Comparison using 2024 resident population estimates.

May 2026

East Suffolk LOCAL AUTHORITY

10.5%

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

26,170 24,157 22,143

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 10.0 µg/m³

Provisional

Last 24 hours 5.2 – 11.2 µg/m³

Sibton Automatic Urban and Rural Monitoring Network (AURN); UKEAP: National Ammonia Monitoring Network · Rural Background Latest measurement: 2026-09-22 11:00:00+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

£52.53m 2024/25 actual outturn

Net revenue expenditure

£48.95m 2024/25 actual outturn

Council Tax requirement

£24.67m 2024/25 actual outturn

Unallocated reserves

£6.00m 2024/25 actual outturn

Service expenditure per resident £210

Median for councils of the same type £166 27.1% 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 £35.33m · Income £19.06m

£16.27m

Planning and development Gross £22.35m · Income £8.23m

£14.11m

Housing Gross £14.92m · Income £5.62m

£9.30m

Central services Gross £27.58m · Income £19.79m

£7.79m

Culture and related services Gross £8.33m · Income £4.37m

£3.96m

Other services Gross £3.23m · Income £1.46m

£1.77m

Public health Gross £888.0k · Income £842.0k

£46.0k

Highways and transport Gross £3.86m · Income £4.58m

£-717.0k

CORE FUNDING

Selected funding sources

Major financing lines in the central return.

Council Tax requirement£24.67m

Retained business rates£27.60m

Revenue Support Grant£751.0k

UNALLOCATED RESERVES

Financial buffer

General unallocated reserves during the year.

Opening £6.00m

Closing £6.00m

£0.00 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

£63.08m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Investments and cash

£106.13m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Net debt

£-43.05m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Net debt per resident

£-172 Per resident using latest population

This council's net debt per resident £-172

Median for non-metropolitan district councils £95 281.1% lower than the peer median

QUARTERLY TREND

Borrowing, investments and net debt

2020/21 Q1 to 2026/27 Q1.

£6.87m quarterly reduction

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

Latest quarterly movement −£6.87m −19.0%

Change across the series +£47.65m 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£63.08m

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

£18.39m Total outstanding at financial year-end

Collection rate

97.30% Collected against the in-year debit

Council tax written off

£1.38m Written off during the financial year

Council tax collected

£208.74m 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

£18.39m

CHANGE SINCE 2021/22

+ 47.8%

+ £5.95m

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.

£18.39m outstanding

CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR £5.92m

32.2% of outstanding arrears

EARLIER FINANCIAL YEARS £12.47m

67.8% 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 97.30%

England average: 95.60% · 1.70 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 Suffolk	mhclg housing delivery test	HDT 2025–HDT 2025	imported	Open
MHCLG district planning application decisions (PS2) — East Suffolk	mhclg planning ps2	2019 Q2–2026 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1) — East Suffolk	mhclg planning ps1	2019 Q2–2026 Q1	imported	Open
Defra local authority waste statistics — East Suffolk Council	defra local authority waste	2019/20–2024/25	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2023/24 — East Suffolk	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2023/24	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2023/24 — East Suffolk	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2023/24	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2022/23 — East Suffolk	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2022/23	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2022/23 — East Suffolk	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2022/23	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2021/22 — East Suffolk	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2021/22	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2021/22 — East Suffolk	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2021/22	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2020/21 — East Suffolk	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2020/21	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2020/21 — East Suffolk	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2020/21	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q4 — East Suffolk	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q3 — East Suffolk	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q2 — East Suffolk	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q1 — East Suffolk	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q4 — East Suffolk	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q3 — East Suffolk	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q2 — East Suffolk	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q1 — East Suffolk	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q4 — East Suffolk	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q3 — East Suffolk	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q2 — East Suffolk	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q1 — East Suffolk	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q4 — East Suffolk	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q3 — East Suffolk	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q2 — East Suffolk	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q1 — East Suffolk	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q4 — East Suffolk	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q3 — East Suffolk	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q2 — East Suffolk	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q1 — East Suffolk	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q4 — East Suffolk	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q3 — East Suffolk	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q2 — East Suffolk	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q1 — East Suffolk	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2026/27 Q1 — East Suffolk	mhclg borrowing investment	2026/27 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2024/25 — East Suffolk	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2024/25	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2024/25 — East Suffolk	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.