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The councils' money

What Hastings' two councils say about their own money, side by side, in their own words: every figure below is a sentence quoted from a council paper, with a link to the page it is on.

Council tax

From the council tax table Full Council set; every band, and the police and fire shares, are on your council tax, band by band.

The budget gap

How much the council says it is short: what it expects to spend, less what it expects to receive.

Hastings Borough Council

“Without a deliverable, recurrent savings strategy, the Council’s MTFP and financial sustainability remain as a significant weakness, given the estimated £7.5m funding gap in 2028/29.”

Hastings BC Auditors Annual Report 2024-25 - Final (add as supplementary)Audit Committee, Thu 11 Dec 2025The paper, page 101 ↗

East Sussex County Council

“After several years of using reserves to manage deficits and overspends, the Council no longer has reserves available to address the structural budget gap on a recurring basis, with strategic reserves forecast to reduce to just £3.9m by 2030.”

Reconciling Policy, Performance and Resources (RPPR) - State of the CountyCabinet, Tue 30 Jun 2026The paper, page 83 ↗

Earlier (3)
“The Chief Finance Officer provided an update on the Council’s financial position, explaining that the Council had a projected deficit of £55.8m and it did not have sufficient reserves to bridge this.”

Minutes of the previous meeting held on 27 November 2025Place Scrutiny Committee, Thu 19 Mar 2026The paper, page 22 ↗

“However, there is an in-year forecast deficit of £26.421m on the DSG, which will result in an overall deficit by the end of 2025/26.”

Appendix 5 CSD - 10.03.2026Cabinet, Tue 10 Mar 2026The paper, page 21 ↗

“Any reduction in reserves reduces the flexibility available in dealing with the challenge of addressing next year’s projected deficit of £55.8m and setting a balanced budget.”

Council Monitoring Report - Quarter 2 2025/26Cabinet, Tue 16 Dec 2025The paper, page 17 ↗

Reserves

What the council has put aside, and the least it says it must keep.

Hastings Borough Council

“The forecast General Reserve balance at 31 March 2027 is £8.0 million, which remains significantly above the minimum threshold and provides an appropriate level of protection against unforeseen financial risks and future budget pressures.”

202627P03FinancialUpdateReporttoendofJune2026Cabinet, Mon 7 Sep 2026The paper, page 90 ↗

Earlier (3)
“The provisional General Fund balance stood at £4.9 million against a target minimum balance of £4 million.”

Minutes, 01/07/2026 Overview and Scrutiny CommitteeOverview and Scrutiny Committee, Mon 20 Jul 2026The paper ↗

“The continued use of reserves is unsustainable, and if maintained at the current level will deplete the General Fund Reserve by 2027 and leave a forecast funding gap of £7.54m by 2029.”

2b. Appendix B - Annual Audit Report - AAR TrackerAudit Committee, Thu 2 Jul 2026The paper ↗

“Following the application of the 2025/26 outturn position, the General Reserve balance is forecast to remain above this minimum threshold at £4.9m as at the year end.”

1202526FinancialUpdateReporttoendofMarch2026Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Wed 1 Jul 2026The paper ↗

East Sussex County Council

“The forecast balance of £10.5m remaining in strategic reserves at 1 April 2026 is the only flexibility the council will have left to mitigate in year pressures or volatile expenditure.”

Reconciling Policy, Performance and Resources (RPPR): Draft Council Plan 2026/27, Revenue Budget and Capital ProgrammeCabinet, Tue 27 Jan 2026The paper, page 117 ↗

Earlier (3)
“The projected level of strategic reserves of £10.5m as of 1 April 2026 means that the Council will have insufficient scope to use reserves to address the budget deficit or any emergent pressure, without further action over and above current steps.”

Reconciling Policy, Performance and Resources (RPPR) - Update on planning for 2026/27 and beyondCabinet, Tue 16 Dec 2025The paper, page 76 ↗

“Scenario modelling reinforces this point: even with 100% delivery of planned savings and no increased demand, all reserves (including earmarked reserves) would be exhausted by 2027/28 as annual deficits rise to £56m.”

Appendix 2Cabinet, Tue 11 Nov 2025The paper, page 71 ↗

“The projected level of strategic reserves of £11.1m as of 1 April 2026 means that the Council will have insufficient scope to use reserves to address the budget deficit or any emergent pressure, without further action over and above current steps.”

Reconciling Policy, Performance and Resources (RPPR) - update on planning for 2026/27 and beyondCabinet, Tue 11 Nov 2025The paper, page 70 ↗

Exceptional financial support

Permission from the government to meet day-to-day costs by borrowing or selling assets, asked for when a council can't otherwise balance its budget.

Hastings Borough Council

“This will allow the Council to set a balanced budget, and allow it the potential future support of government departments in the case of Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) should it need to in the future.”

Budget Council Report 2026-27 v1Full Council, Wed 11 Feb 2026The paper ↗

Earlier (1)
“There are an increasing number of councils in receipt of Exceptional Financial Support from the government.”

Hastings BC Auditors Annual Report 2024-25 - Final (add as supplementary)Audit Committee, Thu 11 Dec 2025The paper, page 29 ↗

East Sussex County Council

“The Council should continue its discussions on the potential need for Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) given the reintroduction of external borrowing from 2025 and continued service pressures.”

Appendix 2 - CIPFA action plan updates Cabinet 29.09.26Cabinet, Tue 29 Sep 2026The paper, page 3 ↗

Earlier (3)
“It is projected that Council revenue expenditure will be on-line at the end of March 2027, assuming that the £55.6m of Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) approved by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is drawn down.”

Reconciling Policy, Performance and Resources (RPPR): Update on planning for 2027/28Cabinet, Tue 29 Sep 2026The paper, page 10 ↗

“The total CFR is expected to give rise to a new borrowing requirement of £211.558m (£141.558m capital programme and £70.000m capitalisation direction) by the end of the year, compared to the original estimate of requirement of £209.422m (£139.422m capital programme and £70.000m capitalisation direction).”

Appendix 2 TM Prudential Indicators - 29.09.2026Cabinet, Tue 29 Sep 2026The paper, page 13 ↗

“The net impact of the above is a forecast on-line position, assuming the draw of £55.6m of Exceptional Financial Support (EFS).”

Council Monitoring Report - Q1 2026/27Cabinet, Tue 29 Sep 2026The paper, page 37 ↗

This year so far

Whether the council expects to spend more or less than its budget this year.

Hastings Borough Council

“After taking account of earmarked reserve movements and other corporate budget adjustments, the Council is currently forecasting a favourable overall variance of £208,679 and no requirement to draw on General Fund reserves.”

202627P03FinancialUpdateReporttoendofJune2026Cabinet, Mon 7 Sep 2026The paper, page 8 ↗

Earlier (3)
“Despite the adverse variance, the Council’s General Reserve balance is forecast to remain at £4.9m at year end, which remains above the minimum recommended level of £4.0m set out within the Council’s Reserves Policy.”

1202526FinancialUpdateReporttoendofMarch2026Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Wed 1 Jul 2026The paper ↗

“The forecasted outturn for the 12 months to 31 st March 2026 is an adverse variance to budget of £9,456 for direct service expenditure.”

2025-26 P9 Finance, Risk & Performance Report to end of December 2025Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Mon 9 Mar 2026The paper, page 7 ↗

“The forecasted outturn for the 12 months to 31 March 2026 was an adverse variance to budget of £621,298 for direct service expenditure.”

Minutes Public Pack, 10/12/2025 Overview and Scrutiny CommitteeOverview and Scrutiny Committee, Wed 21 Jan 2026The paper ↗

East Sussex County Council

“The detailed revenue projections for each department are set out in the relevant appendices which show a projected overspend of £4.1m by 31 March 2027.”

Council Monitoring Report - Q1 2026/27Cabinet, Tue 29 Sep 2026The paper, page 26 ↗

Earlier (3)
“The latest published forecast project cost is reported to be £15m with the overspend funded by the Council Taxpayer.”

Printed minutesFull Council, Tue 24 Mar 2026The paper, page 124 ↗

“The Treasury Management budget is currently forecast to underspend by £1.0m.”

Appendix 1 Corporate Summary - 10.03.2026Cabinet, Tue 10 Mar 2026The paper, page 122 ↗

“In recent years, the use of reserves to cover budget deficits and overspends (which includes a further projected £12.2m to cover the in-year 2025/26 overspend reported at Quarter 2), means the Council has had to abandon its usual approach of maintaining reserves to help future proof Council services from unforeseen risks.”

Reconciling Policy, Performance and Resources (RPPR): Draft Council Plan 2026/27, Revenue Budget and Capital ProgrammeCabinet, Tue 27 Jan 2026The paper, page 117 ↗

Temporary accommodation

What housing homeless households costs: the borough council's largest single pressure.

Hastings Borough Council

“In summary, despite continuing financial and operational pressures across homelessness services, the budget is forecast to achieve a balanced outturn, supported by the approved use of £205,602 from reserves.”

202627P03FinancialUpdateReporttoendofJune2026Cabinet, Mon 7 Sep 2026The paper, page 61 ↗

Earlier (3)
“Members were informed that the most significant budget pressure arose from housing and temporary accommodation services, which had overspent by approximately £1.3 million.”

Minutes, 01/07/2026 Overview and Scrutiny CommitteeOverview and Scrutiny Committee, Mon 20 Jul 2026The paper ↗

“The outturn position also reflects continued financial pressures within Housing, with Temporary Accommodation (TA) reporting an adverse variance of £1.317m after reserve movements.”

1202526FinancialUpdateReporttoendofMarch2026Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Wed 1 Jul 2026The paper ↗

“In-year movement within the temporary accommodation budget had been relatively limited, with an increase of around £65,000, which was considered modest when set against the overall forecast overspend.”

Minutes Public Pack, 21/01/2026 Overview and Scrutiny CommitteeOverview and Scrutiny Committee, Mon 9 Mar 2026The paper, page 31 ↗

When the budget is set

Each council's Cabinet proposes a budget in the winter and Full Council sets it, with the council tax, in February.

Cabinet and Full Council meetings coming up

How this page finds its sentences

For each measure, the page quotes the newest sentence in either council's committee papers from the last 18 months that uses one of the phrases below (any case) and, unless said otherwise, states a sum of money. Up to three earlier ones are listed under it. A sentence counts for the measure whose phrase comes first in it. It is left out when it names a different council or is about reorganisation, and papers of questions, petitions or consultation responses are left out: those are other people's words.

The site doesn't add, round or compare the figures. A sentence is only as current as the paper it comes from: check the date beside it.

More on the money: what the borough council pays out, housing and homelessness, where the regeneration money goes and grants to Hastings.