What does your council tax pay for in 2026 to 2027?
10 things you’re helping to pay for in your community
The range of services provided by East Sussex County Council is vast.
From educational help for children to street lighting, from libraries to care for adults who need support, from backing for local businesses to providing tips for your household waste.
This year we’ll spend a net £693 million on services for East Sussex and it would simply take too long to list them all.
But to give you a better idea of the range of things we do with your money, and the differences they make, here are just 10 things included in our newest Council Plan (the document which explains all this activity).
- A new loans programme to support businesses to grow and create jobs
- Building our early help programme for families with children who’d like support with emerging problems
- Taking joined up health and care into communities especially to help the people who are most frail
- Improved bus services
- Building a new two-lane Exceat bridge between Seaford and Eastbourne
- Spending at least £240 million this year with local suppliers
- Designing and building road safety schemes to make higher-risk sites safer
- Protecting and helping vulnerable people who may be victims of fraud
- Assessing, informing and supporting adults who need care to live as independently as possible and ensure their safety
- Finding the right homes for looked after children and working with health partners to join up our support for children with most complex needs
These are just a few examples of things your council tax pays for.
You can find a full description of our priorities, goals and activities in the Council Plan.
You can also hear from our staff directly in this video as they give a quick snapshot of what they’re working on during a typical day.
- Spend a day with us
An almost impossible budget funding gap
For more than a decade, the money available to the council to spend has fallen well behind the cost and demand of providing public services.
As the gap has widened, central government has allowed local authorities to raise council tax by 5% a year to try to meet the cost of services.
This does not bridge the gap though. East Sussex County Council has also had to make significant service reductions of more than £156 million since 2010 and has used its very limited reserves as a temporary help.
And this year - for the first time - the council has received government permission to borrow up to an extra £70 million to meet the cost of services.
This is known as exceptional financial support and has been taken up by 35 local authorities in England.
It was the only option left to the council to pay for the services it must legally provide and which residents should expect.
The year ahead
In 2026/27 the council (including schools) will spend £1,270 million. This is the gross budget and nearly three-quarters of it goes on schools, Adult Social Care and Children’s Services, supporting the county’s most vulnerable residents who need particular care and support - including older people, people with mental health issues and learning disabilities and children and families.
The budget for 2026/27 includes raising council tax by 4.99% (2.99% council tax plus 2% Adult Social Care Precept), which is a total increase of £1.80 a week for a Band D property.
Our total planned net expenditure for the coming year is £693m. This is the money mainly contributed from council tax and business rates and allocated by the council. However, the funding made available to meet the required investment is not sufficient and exceptional financial support - extra borrowing of £70m (including contingency) - is required to set a balanced budget.
Our annual budget helps to fund a 10-year programme of capital spending - for one-off costs and projects like investment in road and transport infrastructure such as bridges and street lighting, providing the school places needed in East Sussex and essential maintenance of our libraries. This year, investment in infrastructure and assets of £122m will be spent through the capital programme, including:
- £40m on improvements and maintenance to the highways network, bridges and other structures and street lighting
- £35m on integrated transport schemes including bus services
- £22m on school buildings, including providing necessary additional school places
How do you know your money is well spent?
The county council undergoes regular independent inspections, assessments and audits of its performance and efficiency. Some recent examples are included below.
CIPFA review
An independent review by CIPFA assessing our financial resilience and the challenges we face.
Audit
The annual report by auditors Grant Thornton which recognised the very difficult financial future for the council but concluded there are no significant weaknesses in our arrangements for financial sustainability, governance or improving efficiency.
Care Quality Commission
The council’s adult social care services were rated ‘good’ by the Care Quality Commission.
Ofsted
Ofsted’s review of how the council’s care for children in need found it make a positive difference to children’s lives and is constantly developing.
Corporate peer challenge
A team of officers from other councils visited the county council in 2023 for in-depth look at our operation. Their report was positive, finding that the council ‘does what it says it will, and does it well’ and is open, approachable and collaborative. Their recommendations included a greater appetite for risk and transformation.
Charges per council tax band
| Band | General expenditure | ASC Precept* | Total council tax 2026/27 |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | £1,087.32 | £219.54 | £1,306.86 |
| B | £1,268.54 | £256.13 | £1,524.67 |
| C | £1,449.76 | £292.72 | £1,742.48 |
| D | £1,630.98 | £329.31 | £1,960.29 |
| E | £1,993.42 | £402.49 | £2,395.91 |
| F | £2,355.86 | £475.67 | £2,831.53 |
| G | £2,718.30 | £548.85 | £3,267.15 |
| H | £3,261.96 | £658.62 | £3,920.58 |
* On 9 February 2026, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government announced, as part of the final local government settlement 2026 to 2027, that Councils would be able to charge a 2% Adult Social Care Precept in 2026/27.
You can see how your council tax band is worked out on GOV.UK.
The council tax you pay is based on the value of your house in 1991. If you have any questions about your banding, please contact the Valuation Office Agency.
Finding out more
Should you have any questions about the budget please contact us.
Email: Finance
For questions about your council tax speak to your local district or borough council. Their contact details are on our council tax page.
You can find out more about the work we will be doing over the next three years in our Council Plan, which will be published on our website by 1 April, along with full details of our budget for the year ahead.
See: