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Overview

South East · Non-metropolitan district

Swale

2026/27 view

Swale · ONS E07000113

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 61 of 164 High confidence 2024/25 outturn · 2026/27 Q1 debt How this is calculated
Reserves cover28
Debt burden61
Liquidity76
Debt direction99
YEAR-ON-YEAR CONTEXT Change from the previous reported period Each measure uses its own official reporting timetable.
Net debt £-8.07m 2026/27 Q1 vs 2025/26 Q4
−£11.34m 347.1%
Service expenditure £29.43m 2024/25 vs 2023/24
+£2.17m 7.9%
Unallocated reserves £3.10m 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 £29.43m
69.4%
2020/21: £17.37m 2021/22: £29.23m 2022/23: £28.54m 2023/24: £27.26m 2024/25: £29.43m
Net revenue expenditure £24.99m
64.9%
2020/21: £15.15m 2021/22: £22.02m 2022/23: £26.08m 2023/24: £22.84m 2024/25: £24.99m
Council Tax requirement £12.06m
18.3%
2020/21: £10.20m 2021/22: £10.43m 2022/23: £10.92m 2023/24: £11.41m 2024/25: £12.06m
Unallocated reserves £3.10m
84.2%
2020/21: £19.64m 2021/22: £3.07m 2022/23: £3.10m 2023/24: £3.10m 2024/25: £3.10m
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 population158,3792024 estimate
Latest net debt£-8.07m2026/27 Q1 quarter end
WASTE & RECYCLING

What happens to household waste?

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

2024/25
34.9%recycled
Household recycling rate

Recycling rate fell

2.2 percentage points vs 2023/24
147 of 196 peer authorities Peer median 42.1%
Residual waste513.2 kgper household+16.8 kg year on year
Waste collected335.9 kgper resident−2.1 kg year on year
Household waste53,205tonnes collected18,580 tonnes recycled
WHERE HOUSEHOLD WASTE WENT

Recycled versus residual waste

18,580 t recycled, composted or reused 34,625 t not recycled
RECYCLING RATE TREND

10 years of official data

34.9%
2015/16: 36.9%2016/17: 41.6%2017/18: 41.2%2018/19: 42.7%2019/20: 40.5%2020/21: 41.4%2021/22: 41.7%2022/23: 40.1%2023/24: 37.1%2024/25: 34.9%
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 Swale.

2024/25
SCHOOLS & PUPILS

Education at a glance

Explore schools
71 Open schools
24,238 Pupils
25,293 School places
95.8% Capacity utilisation
ATTAINMENT & OUTCOMES

Key Stage 4

Published outcomes for pupils living in Swale.

Attainment 8
41.0
South East 47.0
England 46.1
5.1 points below England
English & maths grade 5+
38.1%
South East 47.9%
England 45.4%
7.3 percentage points below England
EBacc entry
34.8%
South East 41.6%
England 40.5%
5.7 percentage points below England
PROGRESS

Progress 8

-0.52

Latest published Progress 8 score, 2023/24.

A score of 0 represents the national average.
TREND

Attainment 8 over time

41.4 18/19
46.6 19/20
45.5 20/21
43.7 21/22
41.5 22/23
41.3 23/24
41.0 24/25
Education context

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

2025
Median house price
£305,000
+ 22.0% over five years
Median resident earnings
£38,432
+ 20.2% over five years
House price to earnings
7.94×
Higher from 7.82× five years ago
PRIVATE RENTING

Average monthly private rent

Typical private rental cost across all property types in Swale.

£1,103 / month
+ 0.9% in the last year
July 2026
Swale
£1,103
+ 0.9%
South East
£1,419
+ 2.9%
England
£1,451
+ 3.8%
Compared with South East £316 less per month
Compared with England £348 less per month
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Housing affordability

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

Swale
7.94×
South East
9.20×
England
7.64×
Compared with South East 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 received161this quarter+20 vs 2025 Q4
Applications decided154this quarter−9 vs 2025 Q4
Outstanding applications—at quarter end
88.3%approved
Overall approval rate136 granted18 refused+1.2 pts vs previous quarter
DECISION TIMELINESS

Decisions made within time

96.1%
Rank 75 of 294 reporting authoritiesNational median 92.5%

3.5 percentage points higher than 2025 Q4

APPLICATION MIX

Performance by development type

TypeDecisionsApprovedIn time Major1593.3%100.0% Minor4983.7%91.8% Other9090.0%97.8%
QUARTERLY FLOW

Applications through the system

Last 8 quarters
2024 Q2: 1892024 Q3: 1592024 Q4: 1842025 Q1: 2182025 Q2: 1702025 Q3: 1542025 Q4: 1412026 Q1: 1612024 Q2: 1772024 Q3: 2022024 Q4: 1432025 Q1: 1742025 Q2: 1692025 Q3: 1722025 Q4: 1632026 Q1: 154
2024 Q2
Received Decided Outstanding
2026 Q1
HOUSING DELIVERY TEST

Homes delivered against requirement

70%
Required3,109homes over three years
Delivered2,186homes over three years
100% requirement
Presumption in favourHDT 2025 government assessment
CRIME & POLICING

Police-recorded crime

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

Year ending Mar 2026
Recorded offences 13,541 Total police-recorded crime excluding fraud
Crime rate 85.5 offences per 1,000 residents
Annual change − 5.5% compared with the previous year
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Recorded crime rate

Offences per 1,000 residents
Swale Your council
85.5 − 5.5%
South East Region
70.5 − 2.7%
England National
83.4 − 1.5%

Swale has a recorded crime rate 21.3% above South East. It is 2.5% above the England rate.

OFFENCE PROFILE

Recorded crime by category

Kent
Violence 5,922
37.4 per 1,000 − 6.9%
Theft 3,401
21.5 per 1,000 − 11.3%
Public order 644
4.1 per 1,000 − 9.0%
Criminal damage 1,723
10.9 per 1,000 + 3.9%
Shoplifting 1,292
8.2 per 1,000 − 13.2%
Vehicle offences 597
3.8 per 1,000 − 10.2%
Burglary 432
2.7 per 1,000 − 18.8%
Drug offences 408
2.6 per 1,000 + 17.6%
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 Swale.

71 schools
Open schools 71
Pupils 24,238
School places 25,293
Capacity used 95.8%
Primary 49 schools
13,226 pupils
Other / specialist 13 schools
957 pupils
Secondary 9 schools
10,055 pupils
CURRENT POSITION

Inspection coverage

Latest Ofsted management information
Renewed framework 10
14.1% of open schools
Previous full framework 31
43.7% of open schools
Ungraded inspection 16
22.5% of open schools
No Ofsted record 10
14.1% of open schools
No published outcome 4
5.6% of open schools
RENEWED FRAMEWORK

Latest inspection standards

10 schools assessed
Achievement 10 assessed
Needs attention 4
Expected standard 3
Strong standard 3
Attendance & behaviour 10 assessed
Expected standard 6
Strong standard 3
Needs attention 1
Curriculum & teaching 10 assessed
Expected standard 7
Strong standard 2
Needs attention 1
Inclusion 10 assessed
Expected standard 5
Strong standard 4
Needs attention 1
Leadership & governance 10 assessed
Expected standard 7
Strong standard 2
Needs attention 1
Personal development 10 assessed
Strong standard 6
Expected standard 3
Needs attention 1
Safeguarding 10 assessed
Met 10
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 4
Good 12
Requires improvement 2
Not judged 13
LOCAL SCHOOLS

School directory

View all schools
School Phase Pupils Capacity Latest Ofsted position
Bapchild and Tonge Church of England Primary School and Nursery URN 118730 · ME9 9NL Primary 252 210 Ungraded inspection
Bobbing Village School URN 140899 · ME9 8PL Primary 192 210 Requires improvement
Borden Church of England Primary School URN 144867 · ME9 8JS Primary 138 140 Not judged
Boughton-under-Blean and Dunkirk Primary School URN 118705 · ME13 9AW Primary 209 210 Ungraded inspection
Bredgar Church of England Primary School URN 144868 · ME9 8HB Primary 106 106 Ungraded inspection
Bysing Wood Primary School URN 147750 · ME13 7NU Primary 245 270 Good
Canterbury Road Primary School URN 118354 · ME10 4SE Primary 209 210 Ungraded inspection
Davington Primary School URN 118338 · ME13 7EQ Primary 415 420 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 158,379 2024
South East region 9,642,942
Swale represents 1.64% of the region's population
Five-year population change
+8,626 residents ↑ 5.8%
2019: 149,753 residents2020: 150,584 residents2021: 152,218 residents2022: 154,508 residents2023: 156,180 residents2024: 158,379 residents
Swale +5.8%
South East +4.9%
England +4.3%
Growth context

Swale's population grew over five years. Its change was 0.9 percentage points above the South East and 1.5 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 Swale?

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

DWP · May 2026
PEOPLE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT 21,179 13.4% of the 2024 resident population May 2026
CHANGE IN 12 MONTHS +8.6% +1,669 people
LATEST MONTHLY CHANGE +0.5% +114 since April 2026
LOCAL CONTEXT

Universal Credit recipients as a share of population

Comparison using 2024 resident population estimates.

May 2026
Swale LOCAL AUTHORITY
13.4%
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
21,179 19,273 17,367
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
£29.43m 2024/25 actual outturn
Net revenue expenditure
£24.99m 2024/25 actual outturn
Council Tax requirement
£12.06m 2024/25 actual outturn
Unallocated reserves
£3.10m 2024/25 actual outturn
Service expenditure per resident £186
Median for councils of the same type £166 12.2% 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 £12.48m · Income £2.73m
£9.75m
Housing Gross £9.81m · Income £2.66m
£7.14m
Planning and development Gross £7.96m · Income £1.98m
£5.98m
Culture and related services Gross £5.54m · Income £785.0k
£4.75m
Central services Gross £12.61m · Income £9.09m
£3.53m
Public health Gross £623.0k · Income £540.0k
£83.0k
Highways and transport Gross £2.01m · Income £3.82m
£-1.80m
CORE FUNDING

Selected funding sources

Major financing lines in the central return.

Council Tax requirement£12.06m
Retained business rates£12.96m
Revenue Support Grant£338.0k
UNALLOCATED RESERVES

Financial buffer

General unallocated reserves during the year.

Opening £3.10m
Closing £3.10m
£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
£17.00m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Investments and cash
£25.07m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Net debt
£-8.07m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end
Net debt per resident
£-51 Per resident using latest population
This council's net debt per resident £-51
Median for non-metropolitan district councils £95 153.5% lower than the peer median
QUARTERLY TREND

Borrowing, investments and net debt

2020/21 Q1 to 2026/27 Q1.

£11.34m quarterly reduction
2020/21 Q12021/22 Q32023/24 Q12024/25 Q32026/27 Q1
Latest quarterly movement −£11.34m −347.1%
Change across the series −£2.79m 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£3.00m
Short-term borrowing£14.00m
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
£20.56m Total outstanding at financial year-end
Collection rate
94.81% Collected against the in-year debit
Council tax written off
£455,000 Written off during the financial year
Council tax collected
£112.63m 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
£20.56m
CHANGE SINCE 2021/22
+ 99.8%
+ £10.27m
ENGLAND CHANGE
+49.5%
£10.29m 2021/22 £12.57m 2022/23 £14.77m 2023/24 £17.73m 2024/25 £20.56m 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.

£20.56m outstanding
CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR £6.47m

31.5% of outstanding arrears

EARLIER FINANCIAL YEARS £14.09m

68.5% 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 94.81%

England average: 95.60%  ·  0.79 percentage points below 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 — Swalemhclg housing delivery testHDT 2025–HDT 2025importedOpen
MHCLG district planning application decisions (PS2) — Swalemhclg planning ps21979 Q2–2026 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1) — Swalemhclg planning ps11996 Q2–2026 Q1importedOpen
Defra local authority waste statistics — Swale Borough Councildefra local authority waste2010/11–2024/25importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2023/24 — Swalemhclg revenue outturn rsx2023/24importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2023/24 — Swalemhclg revenue outturn rs2023/24importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2022/23 — Swalemhclg revenue outturn rsx2022/23importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2022/23 — Swalemhclg revenue outturn rs2022/23importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2021/22 — Swalemhclg revenue outturn rsx2021/22importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2021/22 — Swalemhclg revenue outturn rs2021/22importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2020/21 — Swalemhclg revenue outturn rsx2020/21importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2020/21 — Swalemhclg revenue outturn rs2020/21importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q4 — Swalemhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q3 — Swalemhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q2 — Swalemhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q1 — Swalemhclg borrowing investment2025/26 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q4 — Swalemhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q3 — Swalemhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q2 — Swalemhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q1 — Swalemhclg borrowing investment2024/25 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q4 — Swalemhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q3 — Swalemhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q2 — Swalemhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q1 — Swalemhclg borrowing investment2023/24 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q4 — Swalemhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q3 — Swalemhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q2 — Swalemhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q1 — Swalemhclg borrowing investment2022/23 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q4 — Swalemhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q3 — Swalemhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q2 — Swalemhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q1 — Swalemhclg borrowing investment2021/22 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q4 — Swalemhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q4importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q3 — Swalemhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q3importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q2 — Swalemhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q2importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q1 — Swalemhclg borrowing investment2020/21 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2026/27 Q1 — Swalemhclg borrowing investment2026/27 Q1importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2024/25 — Swalemhclg revenue outturn rsx2024/25importedOpen
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2024/25 — Swalemhclg 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.