The Council has increased its Council Tax by £6.30 for the 2026/27 financial year which equates to an increase of 2.99% bringing the annual charge to £216.95 for a Band D property.

The Council was able to balance its budget without drawing on reserves for 2026/27; however, it still faces significant financial challenges.  Those challenges will deepen over the medium term as Government funding further reduces and inflationary and demand led pressures continue.  The Council has delivered over £2m of savings over the last 2 years through its Fit for the Future Programme and will continue to identify further savings and income generation opportunities to manage those pressures.  The Council is also exploring opportunities to improve the efficiency of its services, including invest to save initiatives. Whilst it has been possible to set the budget without using reserves for 2026/27, it will be necessary to draw on reserves in subsequent years to safeguard essential statutory services.

Council Tax per Household

Band	2025/26	2026/27	Increase
A	£140.43	£144.63	£4.20
B	£163.84	£168.74	£4.90
C	£187.24	£192.84	£5.60
D	£210.65	£216.95	£6.30
E	£257.46	£265.16	£7.70
F	£304.27	£313.37	£9.10
G	£351.08	£361.58	£10.50
H	£421.30	£433.90	£12.60

The Total Band D Council Tax is:

Authority	Amount
ESCC	£1,960.29
Rother District Council	£216.95
Sussex Police Authority	£281.91
East Sussex Fire Authority	£117.49
Parish/Town Council	See the table below for each area’s amount

Town and Parish Council Expenditures

Battle Town Council 2026/27

Area	Gross Expenditure £	Income £	Net Expenditure £
Finance and General Purpose	391,640	-30,363	361,277
Environment	173,676	-52,902	120,774
External Relations and Town Development	27,630	-2,000	25,630
Planning and Transport	15,887	0	15,887
Town Council Precept	608,833	-85,265	523,568
2025/26 Total	576,442	-77,641	498,801

Bexhill on Sea Town Council 2026/27

Area	2025/26 £	2026/27 £
Central Support	498,100	533,000
Premises and Equipment Costs	84,700	94,416
Bus Shelters	10,000	13,000
Community Committee	78,000	75,600
Climate, Nature and Environment Committee	48,500	86,700
Member Representation	25,750	23,750
Allotments	5,650	6,500
Other Costs	15,000	31,600
Reserves	50,000	50,000
Public Toilets	42,000	170,000
CCTV	37,000	22,000
Christmas Lights	65,000	72,000
Devolution of Assets	0	520,436
Town Rangers	0	23,000
Civic Regalia	0	7,000
Website	0	10,000
Gross Expenditure	959,700	1,739,002
Income	-42,260	-128,414
Town Council Precept	917,440	1,610,588

Rye Town Council 2026/27

Area	2025/26 £	2026/27 £
Affordable Accommodation	8,669	12,669
Devolved Services	50,544	81,932
General Administration	156,116	224,986
Grants/Donations/Loans	7,000	6,500
Property Purchase and Maintenance	9,850	11,719
Public Realm	84,226	76,613
Recreation	37,850	22,500
Tourism	3,075	13,000
Gross Expenditure	357,330	449,919
Income	-72,447	-79,571
Town Council Precept	284,883	370,348

Salehurst & Robertsbridge Parish Council 2026/27

Area	2025/26 £	2026/27 £
Finance	73,046	76,214
Street Lighting	9,200	9,600
Amenities	74,024	73,310
Capital	3,100	10,500
Gross Expenditure	159,370	169,624
Income	-6,550	-5,350
Parish Council Precept	152,820	164,274

Icklesham Parish Council 2026/27

Area	2025/26 £	2026/27 £
Staff Costs	74,200	76,200
Administration	9,850	15,025
Amenities	81,750	84,760
Election and Councillor Costs	450	450
Grants and Community Support	17,500	12,600
Gross Expenditure	183,750	189,035
Income	-32,640	-35,225
Parish Council Precept	151,110	153,810

Ticehurst Parish Council 2026/27

Area	2025/26 £	2026/27 £
Staff Costs	47,500	52,600
Administration	38,250	35,480
Amenities	59,200	55,400
Election and Councillor Costs	280	280
Grants and Community Support	4,950	10,550
Contingency and Reserves	13,000	15,000
Parish Council Precept	163,180	169,310

Westfield Parish Council 2026/27

Area	2025/26 £	2026/27 £
Core Administration	70,514	74,926
Open Spaces	26,450	36,629
Grants	3,500	5,500
Projects	2,500	6,400
Core Reserve Increase	7,700	8,700
Funds for Parish Amenities	0	27,000
Funds for new projects	8,106	19,000
Parish Council Precept	118,770	178,155

Council Tax Amounts in each Area 2026/27

2025/26 Local Precept £	Local Tax Area	2026/27 Local Precept £	2026/27 Local Band D Council Tax £	2026/27 Total Band D Council Tax £
15,225	Ashburnham & Penhurst	20,000	101.32	2,677.96
498,801	Battle	523,568	176.16	2,752.80
30,000	Beckley	36,000	63.80	2,640.44
1,649,544	Bexhill (see note)	2,229,063	126.98	2,703.62
15,670	Bodiam	16,378	96.19	2,672.83
44,117	Brede	56,775	64.71	2,641.35
9,137	Brightling	10,376	50.43	2,627.07
113,198	Burwash	121,121	93.79	2,670.43
63,498	Camber	63,498	79.00	2,655.64
48,400	Catsfield	48,400	124.71	2,701.35
35,217	Crowhurst	37,313	97.88	2,674.52
11,500	Dallington	12,000	68.01	2,644.65
0	East Guldeford	0	0.00	2,576.64
87,500	Etchingham	94,500	215.84	2,792.48
83,122	Ewhurst	87,276	152.06	2,728.70
74,867	Fairlight	74,183	80.99	2,657.63
10,326	Guestling	10,740	16.16	2,592.80
65,818	Hurst Green	70,000	118.72	2,695.36
151,110	Icklesham	153,810	114.98	2,691.62
18,000	Iden	18,000	74.20	2,650.84
12,000	Mountfield	15,000	71.34	2,647.98
134,000	Northiam	138,824	127.62	2,704.26
37,000	Peasmarsh	37,000	70.54	2,647.18
35,000	Pett	55,000	110.79	2,687.43
5,000	Playden	5,000	28.97	2,605.61
364,525	Rye (see note)	439,950	218.53	2,795.17
2,500	Rye Foreign	2,600	14.89	2,591.53
152,820	Salehurst	164,274	160.69	2,737.33
70,000	Sedlescombe	73,000	106.96	2,683.60
163,179	Ticehurst	169,310	95.33	2,671.97
7,000	Udimore	7,000	35.52	2,612.16
118,770	Westfield	178,155	154.86	2,731.50
8,200	Whatlington	10,100	62.88	2,639.52

Note	Local Precept		Rother Expenses
	2026/27	2025/26	2026/27	2025/26
Bexhill:	£1,610,588	£917,440	£618,475	£732,104
Rye:	£370,348	£284,883	£69,602	£79,642

Spending on Services

2025/26

Area	Gross Spend £000	Income £000	Net Spend £000
Chief Executive Officer (HoPS)	4,259	-3,335	924
Deputy Chief Executive Officer (s151)	32,099	-23,812	8,287
Director of Governance and Community Services (MO)	14,934	-8,429	6,505
Total Cost of Services	51,292	-35,576	15,716
Other Operating Income and Expenditure	1,514	-1,214	300
Total Rother District Council Budget	52,806	-36,790	16,016
Local Council Budgets*	3,323	0	3,323
Gross Budget Requirements	56,129	-36,790	19,339

*Excludes Special Expenses

2026/27

Area	Gross Spend £000	Income £000	Net Spend £000
Chief Executive	12,776	-6,568	6,208
Resources	29,460	-22,508	6,952
Governance and Community Services	5,836	-2,533	3,303
Total Cost of Services	48,072	-31,609	16,463
Other Operating Income and Expenditure	3,409	-2,731	678
Total Rother District Council Budget	51,481	-34,340	17,141
Local Council Budgets*	4,290	0	4,290
Gross Budget Requirements	55,771	-34,340	21,431

*Excludes Special Expenses

How Spending Changed

Increase/(-Decrease) in Year on Year Spend	£000
Rother District Council Cost of Services 2025/26	15,716
Net Temporary accommodation costs	125
Increase in coastal and emergency planning costs	43
Car park charges	-93
Finance – system upgrades and decreases in unapportioned pension costs and bank charges	-320
Planning Development Management – reduction in income from planning fees, offset by reduction in agency staff	70
Waste and recycling contract increases	610
Increase in legal fees	55
Other miscellaneous changes	257
Rother District Council Cost of Services 2026/27	16,463

Spending on Capital Projects

2026/27

Area	Capital Projects £000
Development Programme	21,650
A Thriving Local Economy	1,840
Live Well Locally	14,446
Fit for the future	185
Total Rother District Council Capital Budget	38,121

Who Funds Us?

Only a small portion of our services and projects are paid for through Council Tax, the majority of our funding comes from other sources.

The gross income pie chart below shows the breakdown of where we get our money from.

Other Information

The budget requirement includes levies from the following:-

Levies From	2026/27 Amount	2025/26 Amount
Romney Marshes Area Internal Drainage Board	£166,208	£159,025
Pevensey and Cuckmere Water Level Management Board	£5,764	£5,536

The number of staff to be employed by the Council in 2026/27 is estimated to be 263 full time equivalents. There is a decrease of 5 from 2025/26. A number of posts are funded by external sources and capital schemes.

National Fraud Initiative – Fair Processing Notice

The Council is required by law to protect the public funds it administers. It may share information provided to it with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds in order to prevent and detect fraud.  The Cabinet Office currently requires us to participate in its anti-fraud initiative.

At present there are two data matching exercises.

• A two-yearly national match to government, local government and other public sector records for which we supply payroll, housing benefit, council tax reduction scheme, creditors, licensing and housing register data; and
• An annual local match of council tax and electoral register data.

The use of data by the Cabinet Office in data matching exercises is carried out with statutory authority under Part 6 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.  It does not require the consent of the individuals concerned under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018.

Further information is available on our website at www.rother.gov.uk.