Money › What the money buys 12 pages The councils' finances Budget gaps, reserves and this year so far Council tax What each band pays, and to whom Council spending Who the borough council pays, month by month Grants and contracts Grants to Hastings, and what public bodies are buying County spending here What the county council pays to Hastings firms and services What the money buys Consultants, IT, agency staff and more, both councils Regeneration Where the Town Deal and Levelling Up money goes Council land and buildings Sales, leases and transfers in the council's papers What the council owns The borough's own list of its land and buildings Councillors' allowances What each borough councillor was paid, year by year Pay at the council Senior posts, the pay multiplier, staff paid over £50,000 Transparency files What the borough publishes under the Transparency Code, and what it doesn't
What the money buys
What the borough and county councils pay for consultants, IT,
agency staff, legal work, catering, design and print, and events, from the
payments each publishes, sorted by the account each payment was booked to.
The county's figures are what East Sussex County Council pays across the
whole county, not only for Hastings.
The two councils' accounts aren't the same.
Each names its accounts its own way, so each lens has a word list per
council, printed at the foot of this page, and every account line says
which word matched. A lens is a way in, not a complete total: a payment
booked to a general account ("Hired and Contracted services") is in no
lens. The borough publishes payments over £250, the county over £500, and
the county's figures start in April 2025,
when its files changed.
Jump to: Consultants and professional fees · IT and software · Agency staff · Legal fees · Catering · Design, print and advertising · Events and exhibitions
On this page7 sections Consultants and professional fees IT and software Agency staff Legal fees Catering Design, print and advertising Events and exhibitions Consultants and professional fees Consultants, architects and other professional advice bought in.
Hastings Borough Council £2.7m in the twelve months September 2025 to August 2026.
The accounts, and the word that matched each:
Architects & Consultant Fees £1.6m275 payments · matched “consultant” Professional Services - Other £914k432 payments · matched “professional services” Consultants and Other Services £227k58 payments · matched “consultants” Paid most:
East Sussex County Council £22m in the twelve months October 2025 to September 2026, across all of East Sussex.
The accounts, and the word that matched each:
Consultants Costs £13m608 payments · matched “consultants” Consultants Fees £5.7m1,009 payments · matched “consultants” Other professional Fees £3.3m100 payments · matched “professional fees” Professional Fees £485k87 payments · matched “professional fees” Consultants Fees NI Employers Contribution £13.4k10 payments · matched “consultants” Curriculum Professional Fees £4.7k3 payments · matched “professional fees” Paid most:
CONSTELLIA PUBLIC LIMITED £5.8m22 payments JACOBS U.K. LIMITED £3.6m28 payments INFOSYS LIMITED £3.4m19 payments STEER DAVIS & GLEAVE LIMITED £1.5m117 payments OVE ARUP & PARTNERS LTD £641k6 payments FAITHORN FARRELL TIMMS LLP £435k190 payments OXFORD INNOVATION SERVICES LTD £330k4 payments FRANKHAM CONSULTANCY GROUP LTD £285k78 payments IT and software Software, computer systems and hardware.
Hastings Borough Council £1.2m in the twelve months September 2025 to August 2026.
The accounts, and the word that matched each:
Departmental Systems £1.2m112 payments · matched “departmental systems” PC & Desktop Hard & Software £33.2k24 payments · matched “software” Paid most:
East Sussex County Council £14m in the twelve months October 2025 to September 2026, across all of East Sussex.
The accounts, and the word that matched each:
Software Licences £6.8m334 payments · matched “software” Software Maintenance £2.2m77 payments · matched “software” Other Hardware £1.3m23 payments · matched “hardware” Software (incl application development) £907k58 payments · matched “software” ICT Infrastructure £722k57 payments · matched “ICT” Communications (Computing) £495k18 payments · matched “computing” Equipment (Communication & Computing) £310k22 payments · matched “computing” Curriculum ICT - Laptops, desktops & tablets £286k101 payments · matched “ICT” Paid most:
PHOENIX SOFTWARE LTD £3.0m21 payments M L L TELECOM LIMITED £1.6m82 payments SOFTCAT £1.1m138 payments SYSTEM C HEALTHCARE LTD £1.1m8 payments ORACLE CORPORATION UK LIMITED £916k31 payments DELL COMPUTER CORPORATION LTD £497k22 payments SAP (UK) LTD £376k1 payment RICOH UK LTD £365k9 payments Agency staff Temporary staff supplied by agencies.
Hastings Borough Council £1.5m in the twelve months September 2025 to August 2026.
The accounts, and the word that matched each:
Agency Staff £1.5m1,075 payments · matched “agency staff” Paid most:
East Sussex County Council £11m in the twelve months October 2025 to September 2026, across all of East Sussex.
The accounts, and the word that matched each:
Agency Staff £11m783 payments · matched “agency staff” Ed - Agency Staff Teaching £4.5k1 payment · matched “agency staff” SDJC - Agency Staff £3k1 payment · matched “agency staff” Paid most:
ADECCO UK LTD £6.1m67 payments WRIXON HOME CARE SERVICES LTD £1.1m21 payments WRIXON CARE SERVICES £901k38 payments VERVE HOMECARE SUSSEX LTD £608k95 payments IMPERIUM SOLUTIONS LIMITED £550k53 payments PROSPERO GROUP LTD £336k75 payments VIVID RESOURCING £323k138 payments EMERGENCY PERSONNEL £201k140 payments Legal fees Lawyers and court fees.
Hastings Borough Council £221k in the twelve months September 2025 to August 2026.
The accounts, and the word that matched each:
Legal Fees £221k70 payments · matched “legal fees” Paid most:
East Sussex County Council £2.2m in the twelve months October 2025 to September 2026, across all of East Sussex.
The accounts, and the word that matched each:
Legal Fees £1.3m692 payments · matched “legal fees” Family Proceedings Court Fees £893k106 payments · matched “court fees” Witness Fees & Expenses £59.3k17 payments · matched “witness fees” Legal Fees Income £26.9k6 payments · matched “legal fees” Paid most:
ESCC - LEGAL SERVICES ACCOUNT £853k30 payments 11KBW LIMITED HOLDING ACCOUNT £121k31 payments HENDERSON CHAMBERS £110k30 payments CORNERSTONE BARRISTERS £104k46 payments ESCC GCSD - Legal Services Land Reg £92k12 payments SHARPE PRITCHARD £86.1k33 payments FIELD COURT CHAMBERS £64.8k38 payments COPYRIGHT LICENSING AGENCY LTD £48.9k1 payment Catering Catering contracts, refreshments and catering supplies.
Hastings Borough Council £15.6k in the twelve months September 2025 to August 2026.
The accounts, and the word that matched each:
Refreshments £15.1k18 payments · matched “refreshments” Catering £4501 payment · matched “catering” Paid most:
East Sussex County Council £4.4m in the twelve months October 2025 to September 2026, across all of East Sussex.
The accounts, and the word that matched each:
Contract Catering - ESCC £4.2m260 payments · matched “catering” Other Catering £147k91 payments · matched “catering” Equipment & Sundries (Catering) £69.4k17 payments · matched “catering” Paid most:
COMPASS SERVICES (UK) LIMITED £3.6m79 payments PEACEHAVEN SCHOOLS LIMITED £453k48 payments BIDFOOD £105k116 payments ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND GROUP PLC £61.6k39 payments EMCOR GROUP (UK) LTD £36.2k4 payments SILVER BIRCHES £25.8k12 payments MONSTER FOODS GROUP LTD £15.4k6 payments EYES ON DRAINAGE SERVICES LTD £14.2k1 payment Design, print and advertising Printing, advertising, publicity, marketing and photography.
Hastings Borough Council £146k in the twelve months September 2025 to August 2026.
The accounts, and the word that matched each:
Advertising £80.1k22 payments · matched “advertising” Printing £52.8k34 payments · matched “printing” Statutory Advertising £13k27 payments · matched “advertising” Paid most:
East Sussex County Council £443k in the twelve months October 2025 to September 2026, across all of East Sussex.
The accounts, and the word that matched each:
Advertising & Publicity £326k181 payments · matched “advertising” Advertising £76.7k19 payments · matched “advertising” External Printing/Photocopying £19.9k13 payments · matched “printing” Photography £19.3k9 payments · matched “photography” Communications (Printing) £1.1k1 payment · matched “printing” Paid most:
TMP (UK) LTD £74k88 payments FAERFIELD LIMITED £57.9k8 payments DOOH MEDIA LTD £45.5k8 payments HITCH MARKETING LTD £31.3k5 payments GLOBAL MEDIA GROUP SERVICES £21.4k7 payments PB BUS MARKETING LIMITED £14.5k5 payments READ - THE READING AGENCY £13.7k1 payment CAN DIGITAL SOLUTIONS £12k2 payments Events and exhibitions Exhibitions, and the borough's festival and event service areas.
Hastings Borough Council £9.7k in the twelve months September 2025 to August 2026.
The accounts, and the word that matched each:
Exhibitions £7.7k5 payments · matched “exhibitions” Art Work and Exhibitions £2k2 payments · matched “exhibitions” Paid most:
Ricochet £4.2k1 payment A named individual £1.8k2 payments JJ WALLER £1.4k1 payment Oliver Adams Cabinetmaker and Joiner £1.3k1 payment A named individual £9852 payments East Sussex County Council No account matched this lens's words in the twelve months October 2025 to September 2026.
The rules
A payment is in a lens when the name of the account it was booked to
contains one of the lens's words for that council (whole words, any
case). For the borough, a few lenses also read the service area's name,
and those lines say so. Left out: the Foreshore Trust's lines in the
borough's file (the trust's money isn't the council's), the county's
payroll deductions passed on, money passing through, and lines dated
after their file was collected.
Consultants and professional fees : borough accounts naming “consultant”, “consultants”, “architects”, “professional services”; county accounts naming “consultants”, “consultants costs”, “professional fees”.IT and software : borough accounts naming “software”, “computer systems”, “PC & Desktop”, “departmental systems”; county accounts naming “software”, “hardware”, “ICT”, “computing”.Agency staff : borough accounts naming “agency staff”; county accounts naming “agency staff”.Legal fees : borough accounts naming “legal fees”; county accounts naming “legal fees”, “court fees”, “witness fees”.Catering : borough accounts naming “catering”, “refreshments”; county accounts naming “catering”.Design, print and advertising : borough accounts naming “printing”, “advertising”, “marketing”; county accounts naming “printing”, “advertising”, “publicity”, “photography”.Events and exhibitions : borough accounts naming “exhibitions”, “art work”; borough service areas naming “festival”, “event”, “events”, “bonfire”; county accounts naming “exhibitions”, “events”.The word lists are in config/issues.yaml (spending_lenses).
Payments data published by both councils under the Local
Government Transparency Code. A payee whose name reads as a person's is
shown as “a named individual”. The borough's payees link to their pages on
council spending ; the county's are on
county spending here .