South East · Non-metropolitan district

Eastbourne

2026/27 view

Eastbourne · ONS E07000061

Financial position as at 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

View sources

COUNCIL AT A GLANCE

Who runs the council and its current position

21/ 100

COUNCILMETRICS FINANCIAL HEALTH SCORE

Significant pressure

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

164 councils in peer group Rank 150 of 164 High confidence 2024/25 outturn · 2026/27 Q1 debt How this is calculated

Reserves cover39

Debt burden13

Liquidity1

Debt direction24

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

Net debt £152.52m 2026/27 Q1 vs 2025/26 Q4

+£3.82m 2.6%

Service expenditure £16.99m 2024/25 vs 2023/24

−£7.88m 31.7%

Unallocated reserves £2.58m 2024/25 vs 2023/24

+£279.0k 12.2%

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 £16.99m

22.8%

Net revenue expenditure £15.86m

12.7%

Council Tax requirement £9.91m

13.0%

Unallocated reserves £2.58m

27.2%

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 population104,2592024 estimate

Latest net debt£152.52m2026/27 Q1 quarter end

WASTE & RECYCLING

What happens to household waste?

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

2024/25

36.9%recycled

Household recycling rate

Recycling rate fell

0.6 percentage points vs 2023/24

134 of 196 peer authorities Peer median 42.1%

Residual waste399.8 kgper household−5.2 kg year on year

Waste collected303.2 kgper resident−7.4 kg year on year

Household waste31,610tonnes collected11,672 tonnes recycled

WHERE HOUSEHOLD WASTE WENT

Recycled versus residual waste

11,672 t recycled, composted or reused 19,937 t not recycled

RECYCLING RATE TREND

10 years of official data

36.9%

2015/162024/25

EDUCATION

Schools and education

Schools, pupil numbers and latest education outcomes across Eastbourne.

2024/25

SCHOOLS & PUPILS

Education at a glance

Explore schools

33 Open schools

14,294 Pupils

15,645 School places

91.4% Capacity utilisation

ATTAINMENT & OUTCOMES

Key Stage 4

Published outcomes for pupils living in Eastbourne.

Attainment 8

43.1

South East 47.0

England 46.1

3.0 points below England

English & maths grade 5+

41.0%

South East 47.9%

England 45.4%

4.4 percentage points below England

EBacc entry

30.3%

South East 41.6%

England 40.5%

10.2 percentage points below England

PROGRESS

Progress 8

-0.12

Latest published Progress 8 score, 2023/24.

A score of 0 represents the national average.

TREND

Attainment 8 over time

43.1 18/19

47.5 19/20

49.6 20/21

46.6 21/22

43.4 22/23

42.1 23/24

43.1 24/25

Education context

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

2025

Median house price

£275,250

+ 11.0% over five years

Median resident earnings

£37,236

+ 18.5% over five years

House price to earnings

7.39×

Improved from 7.89× five years ago

PRIVATE RENTING

Average monthly private rent

Typical private rental cost across all property types in Eastbourne.

£1,166 / month

+ 0.7% in the last year

July 2026

Eastbourne

£1,166

+ 0.7%

South East

£1,419

+ 2.9%

England

£1,451

+ 3.8%

Compared with South East £253 less per month

Compared with England £285 less per month

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Housing affordability

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

Eastbourne

7.39×

South East

9.20×

England

7.64×

Compared with South East 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 received88this quarter+2 vs 2025 Q4

Applications decided86this quarter−3 vs 2025 Q4

Outstanding applications—at quarter end

75.6%approved

Overall approval rate65 granted21 refused−7.6 pts vs previous quarter

DECISION TIMELINESS

Decisions made within time

70.9%

Rank 286 of 294 reporting authoritiesNational median 92.5%

5.5 percentage points lower than 2025 Q4

APPLICATION MIX

Performance by development type

TypeDecisionsApprovedIn time Major1100.0%100.0% Minor2958.6%69.0% Other5683.9%71.4%

QUARTERLY FLOW

Applications through the system

Last 8 quarters

HOUSING DELIVERY TEST

Homes delivered against requirement

23%

Required2,224homes over three years

Delivered513homes over three years

100% requirement

Presumption in favourHDT 2025 government assessment

CRIME & POLICING

Police-recorded crime

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

Year ending Mar 2026

Recorded offences 11,505 Total police-recorded crime excluding fraud

Crime rate 110.4 offences per 1,000 residents

Annual change + 1.3% compared with the previous year

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Recorded crime rate

Offences per 1,000 residents

Eastbourne Your council

110.4 + 1.3%

South East Region

70.5 − 2.7%

England National

83.4 − 1.5%

Eastbourne has a recorded crime rate 56.6% above South East. It is 32.2% above the England rate.

OFFENCE PROFILE

Recorded crime by category

Sussex

Violence 3,983

38.2 per 1,000 + 0.9%

Theft 3,966

38.0 per 1,000 − 6.3%

Public order 1,026

9.8 per 1,000 + 10.1%

Criminal damage 951

9.1 per 1,000 − 5.0%

Shoplifting 2,411

23.1 per 1,000 − 3.7%

Vehicle offences 348

3.3 per 1,000 − 22.3%

Burglary 306

2.9 per 1,000 − 15.2%

Drug offences 513

4.9 per 1,000 + 54.1%

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 Eastbourne.

33 schools

Open schools 33

Pupils 14,294

School places 15,645

Capacity used 91.4%

Primary 18 schools

6,233 pupils

Other / specialist 8 schools

1,699 pupils

Secondary 4 schools

3,794 pupils

All-through 2 schools

2,568 pupils

16+ provision 1 school

0 pupils

CURRENT POSITION

Inspection coverage

Latest Ofsted management information

Renewed framework 5

15.2% of open schools

Previous full framework 15

45.5% of open schools

Ungraded inspection 7

21.2% of open schools

No Ofsted record 5

15.2% of open schools

No published outcome 1

3.0% of open schools

RENEWED FRAMEWORK

Latest inspection standards

5 schools assessed

Achievement 5 assessed

Expected standard 4

Needs attention 1

Attendance & behaviour 5 assessed

Expected standard 4

Needs attention 1

Curriculum & teaching 5 assessed

Expected standard 4

Needs attention 1

Inclusion 5 assessed

Expected standard 2

Strong standard 2

Needs attention 1

Leadership & governance 5 assessed

Expected standard 4

Needs attention 1

Personal development 5 assessed

Expected standard 3

Strong standard 2

Safeguarding 5 assessed

Met 5

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 7

Requires improvement 2

Not judged 5

LOCAL SCHOOLS

School directory

View all schools

School	Phase	Pupils	Capacity	Latest Ofsted position
Bourne Primary School URN 114473 · BN22 8BD	Primary	414	450	Requires improvement
Heron Park Primary Academy URN 138390 · BN22 9EE	Primary	303	420	Good
Langney Primary Academy URN 146231 · BN23 7EA	Primary	465	420	Ungraded inspection
Motcombe Infants' School URN 114460 · BN21 1SN	Primary	219	270	Ungraded inspection
Oakwood Primary Academy URN 138391 · BN22 0SS	Primary	300	420	Good
Ocklynge Junior School URN 144954 · BN20 8XN	Primary	720	840	Not judged
Parkland Infant School URN 144659 · BN22 9QJ	Primary	178	180	Renewed framework
Parkland Junior School URN 144660 · BN22 9QJ	Primary	243	240	Good

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 104,259 2024

South East region 9,642,942

Five-year population change

+1,505 residents ↑ 1.5%

Eastbourne +1.5%

South East +4.9%

England +4.3%

Growth context

Eastbourne's population grew over five years. Its change was 3.4 percentage points below the South East and 2.8 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 Eastbourne?

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

DWP · May 2026

PEOPLE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT 14,696 14.1% of the 2024 resident population May 2026

CHANGE IN 12 MONTHS +8.3% +1,123 people

LATEST MONTHLY CHANGE +0.3% +44 since April 2026

LOCAL CONTEXT

Universal Credit recipients as a share of population

Comparison using 2024 resident population estimates.

May 2026

Eastbourne LOCAL AUTHORITY

14.1%

South East REGION

9.5%

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

14,696 13,344 11,991

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 5.8 µg/m³

Provisional

Last 24 hours 5.2 – 8.4 µg/m³

Eastbourne 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

£16.99m 2024/25 actual outturn

Net revenue expenditure

£15.86m 2024/25 actual outturn

Council Tax requirement

£9.91m 2024/25 actual outturn

Unallocated reserves

£2.58m 2024/25 actual outturn

Service expenditure per resident £163

Median for councils of the same type £166 1.5% below peer median

2024/25 SERVICE SPENDING

Where the money was spent

Net current expenditure after service income.

Actual outturn

Central services Gross £28.98m · Income £20.60m

£8.38m

Environmental and regulatory services Gross £7.14m · Income £3.69m

£3.45m

Culture and related services Gross £14.01m · Income £11.64m

£2.37m

Housing Gross £8.73m · Income £6.76m

£1.97m

Planning and development Gross £3.44m · Income £2.32m

£1.12m

Other services Gross £39.0k · Income £38.0k

£1.0k

Highways and transport Gross £212.0k · Income £498.0k

£-286.0k

CORE FUNDING

Selected funding sources

Major financing lines in the central return.

Council Tax requirement£9.91m

Retained business rates£4.93m

Revenue Support Grant£142.0k

UNALLOCATED RESERVES

Financial buffer

General unallocated reserves during the year.

Opening £2.58m

Closing £2.58m

£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

£154.66m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Investments and cash

£2.14m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Net debt

£152.52m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Net debt per resident

£1,463 Per resident using latest population

This council's net debt per resident £1,463

Median for non-metropolitan district councils £95 1,436.4% higher than the peer median

QUARTERLY TREND

Borrowing, investments and net debt

2020/21 Q1 to 2026/27 Q1.

£3.82m quarterly increase

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

Latest quarterly movement +£3.82m +2.6%

Change across the series +£22.50m Net debt since 2020/21 Q1

What changed?

Net debt increased during the quarter, with higher outstanding borrowing contributing to the movement.

BORROWING COMPOSITION

Where the borrowing sits

PWLB, other longer-term borrowing and short-term borrowing.

2026/27 Q1

Public Works Loan Board£80.66m

Short-term borrowing£74.00m

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

£26.44m Total outstanding at financial year-end

Collection rate

96.14% Collected against the in-year debit

Council tax written off

£451,000 Written off during the financial year

Council tax collected

£90.78m 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

£26.44m

CHANGE SINCE 2021/22

+ 99.2%

+ £13.16m

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.

£26.44m outstanding

CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR £4.57m

17.3% of outstanding arrears

EARLIER FINANCIAL YEARS £21.87m

82.7% 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 96.14%

England average: 95.60% · 0.54 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 — Eastbourne	mhclg housing delivery test	HDT 2025–HDT 2025	imported	Open
MHCLG district planning application decisions (PS2) — Eastbourne	mhclg planning ps2	1979 Q2–2026 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1) — Eastbourne	mhclg planning ps1	1996 Q2–2026 Q1	imported	Open
Defra local authority waste statistics — Eastbourne Borough Council	defra local authority waste	2010/11–2024/25	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2023/24 — Eastbourne	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2023/24	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2023/24 — Eastbourne	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2023/24	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2022/23 — Eastbourne	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2022/23	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2022/23 — Eastbourne	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2022/23	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2021/22 — Eastbourne	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2021/22	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2021/22 — Eastbourne	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2021/22	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2020/21 — Eastbourne	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2020/21	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2020/21 — Eastbourne	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2020/21	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q4 — Eastbourne	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q3 — Eastbourne	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q2 — Eastbourne	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q1 — Eastbourne	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q4 — Eastbourne	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q3 — Eastbourne	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q2 — Eastbourne	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q1 — Eastbourne	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q4 — Eastbourne	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q3 — Eastbourne	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q2 — Eastbourne	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q1 — Eastbourne	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q4 — Eastbourne	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q3 — Eastbourne	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q2 — Eastbourne	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q1 — Eastbourne	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q4 — Eastbourne	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q3 — Eastbourne	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q2 — Eastbourne	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q1 — Eastbourne	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q4 — Eastbourne	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q3 — Eastbourne	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q2 — Eastbourne	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q1 — Eastbourne	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2026/27 Q1 — Eastbourne	mhclg borrowing investment	2026/27 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2024/25 — Eastbourne	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2024/25	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2024/25 — Eastbourne	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.