Status: Current
The council continues to tackle its funding gap between the money we get in and the services that we offer to Rother. We want to hear your views on our draft revenue budget for 2027/28. We would like feedback on any potential impact that the council might not know about. This consultation is open from 6 November to 5pm on 16 December 2026.
Our budget at a glance
We plan to spend £50 million on services for people, businesses and communities across Rother.
Our budget helps us deliver the priorities in our Council Plan 2025–2029.
We will continue to make the most of the significant investment in our district, creating the right conditions to grow our economy, boost skills, and deliver well paid jobs. The district will be recognised as a world class visitor destination.
We will be recognised as an inclusive and fair district, planning the delivery of affordable homes and working with partners to support the wellbeing of our residents. We will enhance the quality of our residents’ lives by enabling the provision of good quality leisure facilities and access to open spaces.
By taking bold action to tackle climate change and protect the environment in all that we do, we will make the district climate-resilient and reduce council emissions to net zero by 2030.
Why do we need to save money?
Like many councils, Rother faces growing financial pressures. Demand for some services is increasing, while inflation, rising costs, and higher supplier charges make services more expensive to deliver. After multiple years of reductions to our funding from central government our reserves and financial resilience are depleted. Our financial challenges come in four main categories:
Demand and service pressures:
- Homelessness and temporary accommodation for homeless households, cost are rising every year and the government grant doesn’t fully cover those costs.
- Waste collection service including the new requirement to collect food waste
- Aging estate (our properties) requiring maintenance and investment.
Income volatility:
- Planning application income, dependent on the Government setting the rates and wider housing market forces.
- Parking income that goes up and down depending on the weather
- Government Grants which are not yet confirmed through our multi-year settlement
- Cost of living pressures affecting the collection of Council Tax and Business Rates
Internal cost pressures:
- Staff pay
- Borrowing costs that fluctuate.
External and environmental challenges:
- Restrictions of council tax increases, capped at 2.99% for many years and is often less than inflation.
- Cyber prevention work that must be done to protect the public and the council
- Inflation that impacts on our contracted out services and also the rising cost of construction supplies and fuel.
- Local Government Reorganisation and devolution
- Reliance locally to grant funding provided to external bodies
- Rother District Council Housing Company ((helping to unlock housing delivery in a challenging economic and development environment).
This leaves us with a £1.2 million funding gap for 2027/28.
We have a legal duty to set a balanced budget each year. This means that the amount we spend on services cannot exceed the funding and income we receive. We must find ways to close this gap through savings, changes to how services are delivered, and increases in income.
Where does our money come from?
The chart below shows the main ways that the council is funded. Council Tax makes up around 27% of the income that the council gets to run services. Other funding comes from our fees and charges, rental income and the council has some funding from business rates (9%).
What do we spend our money on?
The Council operates and supports many services. Below is a snapshot of where we spend the money we receive. You can see that the largest services for spend are waste and recycling collection at 21.9% and housing and homelessness services at 17%.
Some services, such as car parks and our estates, bring money into the Council. These are not included in the chart.
What do we do with the Council Tax money?
Rother District Council has responsibility to collect the Council Tax on behalf of all the organisations that get part of the tax. However, 9% of your Council Tax is retained for Rother District Council services.
The remainder goes to fund East Sussex County Council, Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire and Rescue and your parish or town council. All these organisations are legally entitled to raise funding through council tax and set their own budgets.
What are we proposing?
We have looked at ways to save money and increase the income we receive.
Our proposals include changes to some grants, services, fees and charges.
We know that some changes could affect residents, local businesses and community groups. We want to understand these effects before we make final decisions. Specific proposals are in our questionnaire.
You can read all our budget proposals in the Cabinet 26 October – Draft Budget Challenge Proposals.
Find out more information on these services:
- 2026/27 Council Tax and Services Information – Rother District Council for information about the current Council Tax bands and charges, 2026 budget breakdown, etc.
- Council Tax FAQs – Rother District Council
- Street Naming and Numbering – Rother District Council and Street Name Plates – Rother District Council;
- Pre-application advice – Rother District Council
How to have your say
Take part using our online survey: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/t/RotherBudget27/
Please email any questions, written or lengthy responses to consultations@rother.gov.uk
Printable version of our questionnaire.
Alternative versions of the questionnaire are available on request by emailing consultations@rother.gov.uk
You can post to –
Budget 2027 Consultation
Rother District Council
Town Hall
Bexhill-on-Sea
TN39 3JX
Or hand in your responses to the Town Hall in Bexhill-on-Sea.
