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Overview

East of England · Non-metropolitan district

Rochford

2026/27 view

Rochford · ONS E07000075

Financial position as at 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

View sources
COUNCIL AT A GLANCE

Who runs the council and its current position

55/ 100
COUNCILMETRICS FINANCIAL HEALTH SCORE

Mixed

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

164 councils in peer group Rank 68 of 164 Medium confidence 2024/25 outturn · 2026/27 Q1 debt How this is calculated
Reserves cover72
Debt burden63
Debt direction1
YEAR-ON-YEAR CONTEXT Change from the previous reported period Each measure uses its own official reporting timetable.
Net debt £-8.00m 2026/27 Q1 vs 2025/26 Q4
+£16.50m 67.3%
Service expenditure £13.33m 2024/25 vs 2023/24
+£2.24m 20.2%
Unallocated reserves £5.20m 2024/25 vs 2023/24
+£3.30m 173.1%
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 £13.33m
20.4%
2020/21: £11.07m 2021/22: £9.45m 2022/23: £9.78m 2023/24: £11.09m 2024/25: £13.33m
Net revenue expenditure £13.89m
11.8%
2020/21: £12.42m 2021/22: £10.19m 2022/23: £12.45m 2023/24: £11.44m 2024/25: £13.89m
Council Tax requirement £10.69m
16.6%
2020/21: £9.16m 2021/22: £9.37m 2022/23: £9.78m 2023/24: £10.27m 2024/25: £10.69m
Unallocated reserves £5.20m
255.1%
2020/21: £1.46m 2021/22: £1.81m 2022/23: £1.84m 2023/24: £1.90m 2024/25: £5.20m
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 population89,8152024 estimate
Latest net debt£-8.00m2026/27 Q1 quarter end
WASTE & RECYCLING

What happens to household waste?

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

2024/25
57.6%recycled
Household recycling rate

Recycling rate fell

0.7 percentage points vs 2023/24
12 of 196 peer authorities Peer median 42.1%
Residual waste359.0 kgper household−1.3 kg year on year
Waste collected360.2 kgper resident−10.8 kg year on year
Household waste32,465tonnes collected18,700 tonnes recycled
WHERE HOUSEHOLD WASTE WENT

Recycled versus residual waste

18,700 t recycled, composted or reused 13,765 t not recycled
RECYCLING RATE TREND

10 years of official data

57.6%
2015/16: 66.0%2016/17: 63.9%2017/18: 63.0%2018/19: 60.9%2019/20: 61.3%2020/21: 58.5%2021/22: 59.9%2022/23: 58.7%2023/24: 58.3%2024/25: 57.6%
2015/162024/25
Official Defra waste statistics · Annual local-authority return · Figures may not sum exactly because of published rounding.View source
EDUCATION

Schools and education

Schools, pupil numbers and latest education outcomes across Rochford.

2024/25
SCHOOLS & PUPILS

Education at a glance

Explore schools
28 Open schools
12,854 Pupils
13,788 School places
93.2% Capacity utilisation
ATTAINMENT & OUTCOMES

Key Stage 4

Published outcomes for pupils living in Rochford.

Attainment 8
47.9
East of England 46.2
England 46.1
1.8 points above England
English & maths grade 5+
50.6%
East of England 45.9%
England 45.4%
5.2 percentage points above England
EBacc entry
40.6%
East of England 40.0%
England 40.5%
0.1 percentage points above England
PROGRESS

Progress 8

-0.24

Latest published Progress 8 score, 2023/24.

A score of 0 represents the national average.
TREND

Attainment 8 over time

47.2 18/19
50.4 19/20
52.6 20/21
49.7 21/22
47.5 22/23
44.9 23/24
47.9 24/25
Education context

Rochford'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 Rochford, based on the earnings of local residents.

2025
Median house price
£405,000
+ 20.9% over five years
Median resident earnings
£44,750
+ 31.1% over five years
House price to earnings
9.05×
Improved from 9.81× five years ago
PRIVATE RENTING

Average monthly private rent

Typical private rental cost across all property types in Rochford.

£1,298 / month
+ 5.0% in the last year
July 2026
Rochford
£1,298
+ 5.0%
East of England
£1,285
+ 3.7%
England
£1,451
+ 3.8%
Compared with East of England £13 more per month
Compared with England £153 less per month
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Housing affordability

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

Rochford
9.05×
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 received149this quarter+22 vs 2025 Q4
Applications decided106this quarter−2 vs 2025 Q4
Outstanding applications—at quarter end
85.9%approved
Overall approval rate91 granted15 refused+7.1 pts vs previous quarter
DECISION TIMELINESS

Decisions made within time

80.2%
Rank 262 of 294 reporting authoritiesNational median 92.5%

6.9 percentage points lower than 2025 Q4

APPLICATION MIX

Performance by development type

TypeDecisionsApprovedIn time Major4100.0%100.0% Minor2479.2%70.8% Other7887.2%82.1%
QUARTERLY FLOW

Applications through the system

Last 8 quarters
2024 Q2: 1462024 Q3: 1282024 Q4: 1192025 Q1: 1222025 Q2: 1192025 Q3: 1312025 Q4: 1272026 Q1: 1492024 Q2: 1232024 Q3: 1462024 Q4: 1252025 Q1: 1112025 Q2: 1322025 Q3: 1262025 Q4: 1082026 Q1: 106
2024 Q2
Received Decided Outstanding
2026 Q1
HOUSING DELIVERY TEST

Homes delivered against requirement

111%
Required1,075homes over three years
Delivered1,191homes over three years
100% requirement
No consequenceHDT 2025 government assessment
CRIME & POLICING

Police-recorded crime

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

Year ending Mar 2026
Recorded offences 3,903 Total police-recorded crime excluding fraud
Crime rate 43.5 offences per 1,000 residents
Annual change − 3.1% compared with the previous year
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Recorded crime rate

Offences per 1,000 residents
Rochford Your council
43.5 − 3.1%
East of England Region
68.4 − 0.1%
England National
83.4 − 1.5%

Rochford has a recorded crime rate 36.5% below East of England. It is 47.9% below the England rate.

OFFENCE PROFILE

Recorded crime by category

Essex
Violence 1,868
20.8 per 1,000 + 4.5%
Theft 878
9.8 per 1,000 − 16.9%
Public order 293
3.3 per 1,000 − 17.5%
Criminal damage 344
3.8 per 1,000 − 6.0%
Shoplifting 226
2.5 per 1,000 − 4.2%
Vehicle offences 233
2.6 per 1,000 − 23.6%
Burglary 157
1.7 per 1,000 − 3.1%
Drug offences 174
1.9 per 1,000 + 31.8%
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 Rochford.

28 schools
Open schools 28
Pupils 12,854
School places 13,788
Capacity used 93.2%
Primary 22 schools
6,708 pupils
Secondary 4 schools
6,122 pupils
Other / specialist 2 schools
24 pupils
CURRENT POSITION

Inspection coverage

Latest Ofsted management information
Renewed framework 2
7.1% of open schools
Previous full framework 14
50.0% of open schools
Ungraded inspection 11
39.3% of open schools
No Ofsted record 1
3.6% of open schools
RENEWED FRAMEWORK

Latest inspection standards

2 schools assessed
Achievement 2 assessed
Strong standard 2
Attendance & behaviour 2 assessed
Strong standard 2
Curriculum & teaching 2 assessed
Expected standard 1
Strong standard 1
Inclusion 2 assessed
Expected standard 1
Strong standard 1
Leadership & governance 2 assessed
Expected standard 1
Strong standard 1
Personal development 2 assessed
Expected standard 1
Strong standard 1
Safeguarding 2 assessed
Met 2
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 8
Requires improvement 2
Not judged 4
LOCAL SCHOOLS

School directory

View all schools
School Phase Pupils Capacity Latest Ofsted position
Barling Magna Primary Academy URN 143948 · SS3 0LN Primary 167 210 Good
Canewdon Church of England Primary School URN 149618 · SS4 3QA Primary 90 157 Requires improvement
Down Hall Primary School URN 114936 · SS6 9LW Primary 272 315 Ungraded inspection
Edward Francis Primary School URN 115012 · SS6 8AJ Primary 423 420 Ungraded inspection
Glebe Primary School URN 145110 · SS6 9HG Primary 403 459 Not judged
Great Wakering Primary Academy URN 143978 · SS3 0EJ Primary 412 420 Ungraded inspection
Grove Wood Primary School URN 141052 · SS6 8UA Primary 630 630 Not judged
Holt Farm Infant School URN 114879 · SS4 1RS Primary 211 270 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 89,815 2024
East of England region 6,576,306
Rochford represents 1.37% of the region's population
Five-year population change
+4,525 residents ↑ 5.3%
2019: 85,290 residents2020: 85,213 residents2021: 86,181 residents2022: 87,272 residents2023: 88,560 residents2024: 89,815 residents
Rochford +5.3%
East of England +4.8%
England +4.3%
Growth context

Rochford's population grew over five years. Its change was broadly in line with the East of England and 1.1 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 Rochford?

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

DWP · May 2026
PEOPLE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT 6,274 7.0% of the 2024 resident population May 2026
CHANGE IN 12 MONTHS +5.4% +319 people
LATEST MONTHLY CHANGE +0.9% +58 since April 2026
LOCAL CONTEXT

Universal Credit recipients as a share of population

Comparison using 2024 resident population estimates.

May 2026
Rochford LOCAL AUTHORITY
7.0%
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
6,274 5,801 5,327
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
HOUSING LICENSING

HMOs and property licensing

Coverage not assessedNational HMO explorer
Licensed HMOsAwaiting registerOnly licensed properties will be counted
Register accessNot assessedNo register record available
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
£13.33m 2024/25 actual outturn
Net revenue expenditure
£13.89m 2024/25 actual outturn
Council Tax requirement
£10.69m 2024/25 actual outturn
Unallocated reserves
£5.20m 2024/25 actual outturn
Service expenditure per resident £148
Median for councils of the same type £166 10.4% below peer median
2024/25 SERVICE SPENDING

Where the money was spent

Net current expenditure after service income.

Actual outturn
Environmental and regulatory services Gross £7.51m · Income £2.96m
£4.55m
Central services Gross £15.20m · Income £10.99m
£4.21m
Culture and related services Gross £2.80m · Income £952.0k
£1.84m
Planning and development Gross £3.88m · Income £2.04m
£1.84m
Housing Gross £2.71m · Income £1.01m
£1.70m
Highways and transport Gross £904.0k · Income £1.72m
£-816.0k
CORE FUNDING

Selected funding sources

Major financing lines in the central return.

Council Tax requirement£10.69m
Retained business rates£4.16m
Revenue Support Grant£85.0k
UNALLOCATED RESERVES

Financial buffer

General unallocated reserves during the year.

Opening £1.90m
Closing £5.20m
£3.30m 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
£0.00 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Investments and cash
£8.00m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Net debt
£-8.00m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Net debt per resident
£-89 Per resident using latest population
This council's net debt per resident £-89
Median for non-metropolitan district councils £95 193.5% lower than the peer median
QUARTERLY TREND

Borrowing, investments and net debt

2020/21 Q1 to 2026/27 Q1.

£16.50m quarterly increase
2020/21 Q12021/22 Q32023/24 Q12024/25 Q32026/27 Q1
Latest quarterly movement +£16.50m +67.3%
Change across the series +£9.00m Net debt since 2020/21 Q1
What changed?

Net debt increased despite borrowing not rising because investments and cash fell during the quarter.

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
£4.18m Total outstanding at financial year-end
Collection rate
98.17% Collected against the in-year debit
Council tax written off
£42,000 Written off during the financial year
Council tax collected
£75.97m 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
£4.18m
CHANGE SINCE 2021/22
+ 54.5%
+ £1.48m
ENGLAND CHANGE
+49.5%
£2.70m 2021/22 £2.81m 2022/23 £3.04m 2023/24 £3.63m 2024/25 £4.18m 2025/26

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.

£4.18m outstanding
CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR £1.41m

33.6% of outstanding arrears

EARLIER FINANCIAL YEARS £2.77m

66.4% 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 98.17%

England average: 95.60%  ·  2.57 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
ContractSupplierStatusEnd dateOriginal value
SUPPLIERS

Largest supplier exposure

Dated transactions
SupplierPaymentsPublished expenditure
PROVENANCE

Source documents

39 imported
DocumentDatasetPeriodStatusOfficial source
Housing Delivery Test 2025 results — Rochfordmhclg housing delivery testHDT 2025–HDT 2025importedOpen
MHCLG district planning application decisions (PS2) — Rochfordmhclg planning ps21979 Q2–2026 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1) — Rochfordmhclg planning ps11996 Q2–2026 Q1importedOpen
Defra local authority waste statistics — Rochford District Councildefra local authority waste2010/11–2024/25importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2023/24 — Rochfordmhclg revenue outturn rsx2023/24importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2023/24 — Rochfordmhclg revenue outturn rs2023/24importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2022/23 — Rochfordmhclg revenue outturn rsx2022/23importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2022/23 — Rochfordmhclg revenue outturn rs2022/23importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2021/22 — Rochfordmhclg revenue outturn rsx2021/22importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2021/22 — Rochfordmhclg revenue outturn rs2021/22importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2020/21 — Rochfordmhclg revenue outturn rsx2020/21importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2020/21 — Rochfordmhclg revenue outturn rs2020/21importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q4 — Rochfordmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q3 — Rochfordmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q2 — Rochfordmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q1 — Rochfordmhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q4 — Rochfordmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q3 — Rochfordmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q2 — Rochfordmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q1 — Rochfordmhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q4 — Rochfordmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q3 — Rochfordmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q2 — Rochfordmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q1 — Rochfordmhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q4 — Rochfordmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q3 — Rochfordmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q2 — Rochfordmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q1 — Rochfordmhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q4 — Rochfordmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q3 — Rochfordmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q2 — Rochfordmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q1 — Rochfordmhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q4 — Rochfordmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q3 — Rochfordmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q2 — Rochfordmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q1 — Rochfordmhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2026/27 Q1 — Rochfordmhclg borrowing investment2026/27 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2024/25 — Rochfordmhclg revenue outturn rsx2024/25importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2024/25 — Rochfordmhclg revenue outturn rs2024/25importedOpen
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.