The Council has increased its Council Tax by £5.94 for the 2024/25 financial year which equates to an increase of 2.99% bringing the annual charge to £204.54 for a Band D property.

There continues to be significant financial pressures on the Council for 2024/25 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	2023/24	2024/25	Increase
A	£132.40	£136.36	£3.96
B	£154.47	£159.09	£4.62
C	£176.53	£181.81	£5.28
D	£198.60	£204.54	£5.94
E	£242.73	£249.99	£7.26
F	£286.87	£295.45	£8.58
G	£331.00	£340.90	£9.90
H	£397.20	£409.08	£11.88

The Total Band D Council Tax is:

Authority	Amount
ESCC	£1,778.31
Rother District Council	£204.54
Sussex Police Authority	£252.91
East Sussex Fire Authority	£107.49
Parish/Town Council	See the table below for each area’s amount

Town Council Expenditures

Battle Town Council 2024/25

Area	Gross Expenditure £	Income £	Net Expenditure £
Finance and General Purpose	427,674	-29,930	397,744
Environment	89,258	-41,282	47,976
External Relations and Town Development	21,450	-700	20,750
Planning and Transport	8,800	0	8,800
Town Council Precept	547,182	-71,912	475,270
2024/25 Total	438,726	-38,949	399,777

Rye Town Council 2024/25

Area	2023/24 £	2024/25 £
Affordable Accommodation	0	13,669
Devolved Services	0	22,000
General Administration	150,211	160,609
Grants/Donations/Loans	6,500	2,500
Property Purchase and Maintenance	14,119	8,650
Public Realm	88,962	85,070
Recreation	9,025	23,325
Tourism	4,300	1,000
Gross Expenditure	273,117	316,823
Income	-52,627	-66,136
Town Council Precept	220,490	250,687

Bexhill on Sea Town Council 2024/25

Area	2023/24 £	2024/25 £
Central Support	237,250	369,335
Premises and Equipment Costs	49,500	61,000
Computers and Equipment	0	0
Community Committee	58,000	58,000
Climate, Nature and Environment Committee	39,000	46,809
Member Representation	45,200	45,500
Allotments	4,650	4,650
Other Costs	22,500	24,500
Reserves	50,000	50,000
Assets	150,000	0
CCTV	0	55,000
Christmas Lights	0	32,000
Gross Expenditure	656,100	746,794
Income	-4,385	-33,630
Town Council Precept	651,715	713,164

Council Tax Amounts in each Area 2024/25

2023/24 Local Precept £	Local Tax Area	2024/25 Local Precept £	2024/25 Local Band D Council Tax £	2024/25 Total Band D Council Tax £
13,650	Ashburnham & Penhurst	14,500	75.38	2,418.63
399,777	Battle	475,270	163.61	2,506.86
25,000	Beckley	25,000	44.38	2,387.63
1,330,895	Bexhill (see note)	1,424,720	82.20	2,425.45
11,420	Bodiam	15,209	89.43	2,432.68
39,945	Brede	41,686	47.99	2,391.24
7,894	Brightling	8,460	42.59	2,385.84
105,792	Burwash	113,198	88.68	2,431.93
63,498	Camber	63,498	95.25	2,438.50
32,000	Catsfield	32,000	82.56	2,425.81
32,455	Crowhurst	35,218	93.10	2,436.35
9,435	Dallington	11,000	63.29	2,406.54
0	East Guldeford	0	0	2,343.25
71,600	Etchingham	82,000	189.37	2,532.62
77,343	Ewhurst	80,437	144.01	2,487.26
90,000	Fairlight	95,000	104.30	2,447.55
9,547	Guestling	9,977	15.51	2,358.76
48,681	Hurst Green	56,784	94.85	2,438.10
159,580	Icklesham	166,730	133.58	2,476.83
16,000	Iden	16,000	68.07	2,411.32
12,000	Mountfield	12,000	57.64	2,400.89
107,500	Northiam	113,000	106.25	2,449.50
37,000	Peasmarsh	37,000	72.68	2,415.93
23,000	Pett	26,000	55.81	2,399.06
5,000	Playden	5,000	31.05	2,374.30
292,140	Rye (see note)	325,761	170.01	2,513.26
2,000	Rye Foreign	2,500	15.97	2,359.22
116,912	Salehurst	129,287	125.07	2,468.32
59,800	Sedlescombe	67,650	99.74	2,442.99
150,150	Ticehurst	159,110	91.27	2,434.52
7,000	Udimore	7,000	36.52	2,379.77
140,000	Westfield	111,000	97.77	2,441.02
7,100	Whatlington	7,455	46.39	2,389.64

Note	Local Precept 2024/25	Local Precept 2023/24	Rother Expenses 2024/25	Rother Expenses 2023/24
Bexhill:	£713,164	£651,715	£711,556	£679,180
Rye:	£250,687	£220,490	£75,074	£71,650

Spending on Services

2023/24

Area	2023/24 Net Budget £000
Acquisitions, Transformation and Regeneration	-310
Corporate Core	2,219
Environmental Services, Licencing and Community Strategy	676
Housing, Community and Neighbourhood Services	9,285
Resources	3,868
Strategy and Planning	1,129
Total Cost of Services	16,867
Other Operating Income and Expenditure	-162
Total Rother District Council Budget	16,705
Local Council Budgets	2,717
Gross Budget Requirements	19,422

2024/25

Area	Gross Spend £000	Income £000	Net Spend £000	Capital Projects £000
Chief Executive	3,350	-180	3,170	0
Deputy Chief Executive	24,856	-19,996	4,860	11,955
Director Place and Climate Change	19,524	-12,189	7,335	74,083
Total Cost of Services	47,730	-32,365	15,365	86,038
Other Operating Income and Expenditure	1,250	-1,316	-66	0
Total Rother District Council Budget	48,980	-33,681	15,299	86,038
Local Council Budgets	2,983	0	2,983	0
Gross Budget Requirements	51,963	-33,681	18,282	86,038

How Spending Changed

Increase/(-Decrease) in Year on Year Spend	£000
Rother District Council Cost of Services 2023/24	16,867
Temporary accommodation costs (net)	562
Waste and cleansing contract inflation	202
Fees and charges	-1,249
Grounds maintenance savings	-280
Planning agency support staff for pre-planning application support	101
Service plan savings and efficiencies	-604
Additional planning income – government changes	-235
Additional planning income – Planning Performance Agreements	-137
Other miscellaneous changes	138
Rother District Council Cost of Services 2024/25	15,365

Where the Money Comes From

Source	£000	£ per resident	%
Income	1,675	17	9
Business Rate Retention Scheme	4,820	49	26
Council Taxpayers (including Parishes)	11,787	121	65
Gross Budget Requirement	18,282	187	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	2024/25 Amount	2023/24 Amount
Romney Marshes Area Internal Drainage Board	£154,354	£147,547
Pevensey and Cuckmere Water Level Management Board	£5,199	£4,910

The number of staff to be employed by the Council in 2024/25 is estimated to be 253 full time equivalents. There is an increase of 7 from 2023/24. A number of posts are funded by external sources.

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.