The Council has increased its Council Tax by £6.11 for the 2025/26 financial year which equates to an increase of 2.99% bringing the annual charge to £210.65 for a Band D property.

There continues to be significant financial pressures on the Council for 2025/26 and beyond. The Council is responding to these pressures through its Fit for the Future programme which is designed to deliver additional income and savings that will balance the budget over the medium term. In the interim the Council will use its reserves to best safeguard the essential services it delivers.

Council Tax per Household

Band	2024/25	2025/26	Increase
A	£136.36	£140.43	£4.07
B	£159.09	£163.84	£4.75
C	£181.81	£187.24	£5.43
D	£204.54	£210.65	£6.11
E	£249.99	£257.46	£7.47
F	£295.45	£304.27	£8.82
G	£340.90	£351.08	£10.18
H	£409.08	£421.30	£12.22

The Total Band D Council Tax is:

Authority	Amount
ESCC	£1,867.05
Rother District Council	£210.65
Sussex Police Authority	£266.91
East Sussex Fire Authority	£112.49
Parish/Town Council	See the table below for each area’s amount

Town Council Expenditures

Battle Town Council 2025/26

Area	Gross Expenditure £	Income £	Net Expenditure £
Finance and General Purpose	397,332	-30,411	366,921
Environment	135,272	-46,230	89,042
External Relations and Town Development	22,420	-1,000	21,420
Planning and Transport	21,418	0	21,418
Town Council Precept	576,442	-77,641	498,801
2024/25 Total	547,182	-71,912	475,270

Rye Town Council 2025/26

Area	2024/25 £	2025/26 £
Affordable Accommodation	13,669	8,669
Devolved Services	22,000	50,544
General Administration	160,609	156,116
Grants/Donations/Loans	2,500	7,000
Property Purchase and Maintenance	8,650	9,850
Public Realm	85,070	84,226
Recreation	23,325	37,850
Tourism	1,000	3,075
Gross Expenditure	316,823	357,330
Income	-66,136	-72,447
Town Council Precept	250,687	284,883

Bexhill on Sea Town Council 2025/26

Area	2024/25 £	2025/26 £
Central Support	369,335	498,100
Premises and Equipment Costs	61,000	84,700
Bus Shelters	0	10,000
Community Committee	58,000	78,000
Climate, Nature and Environment Committee	46,809	48,500
Member Representation	45,500	25,750
Allotments	4,650	5,650
Other Costs	24,500	15,000
Reserves	50,000	50,000
Public Toilets	0	42,000
CCTV	55,000	37,000
Christmas Lights	32,000	65,000
Gross Expenditure	746,794	959,700
Income	-33,630	-42,260
Town Council Precept	713,164	917,440

Council Tax Amounts in each Area 2025/26

2024/25 Local Precept £	Local Tax Area	2025/26 Local Precept £	2025/26 Local Band D Council Tax £	2025/26 Total Band D Council Tax £
14,500	Ashburnham & Penhurst	15,225	74.50	2,531.60
475,270	Battle	498,801	171.77	2,628.87
25,000	Beckley	30,000	52.75	2,509.85
1,424,720	Bexhill (see note)	1,649,544	95.24	2,552.34
15,209	Bodiam	15,670	91.30	2,548.40
41,686	Brede	44,117	49.91	2,507.01
8,460	Brightling	9,137	43.91	2,501.01
113,198	Burwash	113,198	87.05	2,544.15
63,498	Camber	63,498	88.76	2,545.86
32,000	Catsfield	48,400	124.59	2,581.69
35,218	Crowhurst	35,217	92.91	2,550.01
11,000	Dallington	11,500	62.26	2,519.36
0	East Guldeford	0	0.00	2,457.10
82,000	Etchingham	87,500	200.93	2,658.03
80,437	Ewhurst	83,122	145.22	2,602.32
95,000	Fairlight	74,867	80.18	2,537.28
9,977	Guestling	10,326	15.44	2,472.54
56,784	Hurst Green	65,818	110.65	2,567.75
166,730	Icklesham	151,110	115.71	2,572.81
16,000	Iden	18,000	73.42	2,530.52
12,000	Mountfield	12,000	56.83	2,513.93
113,000	Northiam	134,000	122.31	2,579.41
37,000	Peasmarsh	37,000	70.01	2,527.11
26,000	Pett	35,000	71.71	2,528.81
5,000	Playden	5,000	28.32	2,485.42
325,761	Rye (see note)	364,525	184.68	2,641.78
2,500	Rye Foreign	2,500	14.00	2,471.10
129,287	Salehurst	152,820	148.13	2,605.23
67,650	Sedlescombe	70,000	101.58	2,558.68
159,110	Ticehurst	163,179	91.18	2,548.28
7,000	Udimore	7,000	35.89	2,492.99
111,000	Westfield	118,770	103.27	2,560.37
7,455	Whatlington	8,200	50.80	2,507.90

Note	Local Precept 2025/26	2024/25	Rother Expenses 2025/26	2024/25
Bexhill:	£917,440	£713,164	£732,104	£711,556
Rye:	£284,883	£250,687	£79,642	£75,074

Spending on Services

2024/25

Area	2024/25 Net Budget £000
Chief Executive	3,170
Deputy Chief Executive	4,860
Director Place and Climate Change	7,335
Total Cost of Services	15,365
Other Operating Income and Expenditure	-66
Total Rother District Council Budget	15,299
Local Council Budgets	2,983
Gross Budget Requirements	18,282

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

How Spending Changed

Increase/(-Decrease) in Year on Year Spend	£000
Rother District Council Cost of Services 2024/25	15,365
Temporary accommodation costs (net)	431
Temporary accommodation purchases – cost recovery	-104
Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (EPR) grant	-955
Grounds maintenance contract savings (net)	-179
Public conveniences cleaning contract saving (net)	-71
Car park charges (net)	-117
Property voids and rent reviews	161
Finance – Asset valuations, licence and external audit fees, bank charges, system upgrades and increase in unapportioned pension costs	131
Planning Development Management – net additional income from planning fees, charges and recharges, offset by new posts to enhance service provision	-213
Waste contract increases and food waste collection preparation costs	469
Employer’s national insurance increase	260
Other miscellaneous changes	538
Rother District Council Cost of Services 2025/26	15,716

Spending on Capital Projects

2025/26

Area	Capital Projects £000
Development Programme	24,512
A Thriving Local Economy	3,055
Live Well Locally	9,377
Fit for the future	502
Green to the Core	70
Total Rother District Council Capital Budget	37,516

Where the Money Comes From

Source	£000	£ per resident	%
Income	2,028	21	10
Business Rate Retention Scheme	4,816	51	25
Council Taxpayers (including Parishes)	12,495	132	65
Gross Budget Requirement	19,339	204	100

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	2025/26 Amount	2024/25 Amount
Romney Marshes Area Internal Drainage Board	£159,025	£154,354
Pevensey and Cuckmere Water Level Management Board	£5,536	£5,199

The number of staff to be employed by the Council in 2025/26 is estimated to be 268 full time equivalents. There is an increase of 15 from 2024/25. 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;

1. 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
2. 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.