Appendix 11

 

 

 

Brighton & Hove City Council

 

Budget Book 2026/27

 

 

 

 

 

Table of Contents

Revenue Budget Summary. 3

2026/27 Revenue Budget Breakdown. 3

Budget changes from 2025/26 to 2026/27. 4

2026/27 Revenue Budget – Gross Budget to Net Budget. 5

Specific Government Grants 2026/27. 6

Summary of Capital Investment Programme 2026/27 to 2030/31. 8

Families, Children & Wellbeing. 9

Families, Children & Wellbeing Budget Summary. 13

Families, Children & Wellbeing 2026/27 Revenue Budget Breakdown. 13

Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) 2026/27 Revenue Budget Breakdown. 14

Families, Children & Wellbeing Capital Investment Programme 2026/27 to 2030/31. 15

Homes & Adult Social Care. 16

Homes & Adult Social Care Budget Summary. 18

Homes & Adult Social Care 2026/27 Revenue Budget Breakdown. 19

Housing Revenue Account (HRA) 2026/27 Revenue Budget Breakdown. 20

Homes & Adult Social Care - GF Capital Investment Programme 2026/27 to 2030/31. 20

Homes & Adult Social Care - HRA Capital Investment Programme 2026/27 to 2030/31. 21

City Operations. 22

City Operations Budget Summary. 26

City Operations 2026/27 Revenue Budget Breakdown. 26

City Operations Capital Investment Programme 2026/27 to 2030/31. 28

Central Hub. 31

Central Hub Budget Summary. 34

Central Hub 2026/27 Revenue Budget Breakdown. 35

Centrally Held Budgets 2026/27 Revenue Budget Breakdown. 37

Central Hub Capital Investment Programme 2026/27 to 2030/31. 37

Glossary of Terms. 38

 

 

Revenue Budget Summary
2025/26 Net Expenditure / (Income)		2026/27 Budget					2026/27 Budgeted Contracted Staff
	Service Area	Expenditure	Income	Budget Allocation	Capital Charges & Recharges	Net Expenditure / (Income)
£m		£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	FTE
103.450	Families, Children & Wellbeing	146.172	(55.112)	91.060	22.399	113.459	927.2
129.690	Homes & Adult Social Care	245.047	(84.347)	160.700	8.009	168.709	809.3
74.664	City Operations	124.158	(76.869)	47.289	28.099	75.388	1,175.0
9.773	Central Hub	50.277	(18.759)	31.518	(22.343)	9.175	620.9
317.578	Service Areas Total	565.654	(235.087)	330.567	36.164	366.731	3,532.3
(52.759)	Centrally Held Budgets *	110.298	(93.656)	16.642	(41.898)	(25.256)	-22.0
264.819	General Fund Total	675.951	(328.742)	347.209	(5.733)	341.476	3,510.3
-	Dedicated Schools Grant Funded (DSG) **	259.674	(260.784)	(1.110)	1.110	-	143.1
-	Housing Revenue Account (HRA)	82.247	(86.870)	(4.623)	4.623	-	515.5
264.819	BHCC Revenue Total	1017.872	(676.396)	341.476	-	341.476	4,168.9

*   The negative FTE number for Centrally Held Budgets relates to the estimated posts deleted resulting from the Organisational Change saving of £1.125m. Currently the reduction of staff is shown against Centrally Held Budgets as it has not yet been identified in which services the reductions will be made.

** The budgeted FTE number for DSG does not include staff directly employed by schools.

 

2026/27 Revenue Budget Breakdown
Service Description	Employee Expenditure	Other Expenditure	Total Expenditure	Income From Fees, Charges & Rents	Exceptional Financial Support	Other Income	Government Grants	Total Income	Total Budget Allocation	Capital Charges & Recharges	Net Expenditure / (Income)
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Families, Children & Wellbeing	53.081	93.091	146.172	(1.774)	-	(4.816)	(48.523)	(55.112)	91.060	22.399	113.459
Homes & Adult Social Care	45.482	199.564	245.047	(36.606)	-	(25.441)	(22.300)	(84.347)	160.700	8.009	168.709
City Operations	56.509	67.649	124.158	(69.793)	-	(4.793)	(2.283)	(76.869)	47.289	28.099	75.388
Central Hub	28.781	21.496	50.277	(12.162)	-	(1.739)	(4.858)	(18.759)	31.518	(22.343)	9.175
Service Areas Total	183.854	381.800	565.654	(120.334)	-	(36.789)	(77.963)	(235.087)	330.567	36.164	366.731
Centrally Held Budgets	2.806	107.492	110.298	(2.677)	(15.000)	5.186	(81.165)	(93.656)	16.642	(41.898)	(25.256)
General Fund Total	186.660	489.292	675.951	(123.011)	(15.000)	(31.603)	(159.128)	(328.742)	347.209	(5.733)	341.476
Dedicated Schools Grant Funded (DSG)	162.839	96.835	259.674	(1.576)	-	-	(259.208)	(260.784)	(1.110)	1.110	-
Housing Revenue Account (HRA)	27.547	54.699	82.247	(86.708)	-	(0.162)	-	(86.870)	(4.623)	4.623	-
BHCC Revenue Total	377.046	640.826	1017.872	(211.295)	(15.000)	(31.765)	(418.336)	(676.396)	341.476	(0.000)	341.476

 

Budget changes from 2025/26 to 2026/27
	2024/25 Revised Base	Changes in function / funding	Internal Transfers	Inflation	Service Pressures	Commitments & Reinvestment	VFM & Other Savings	2026/27 Original Budget	Change Over Revised Base	Change Over Revised Base
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	%
Families, Children & Wellbeing	77.580	8.706	0.061	2.682	5.640	(1.739)	(1.870)	91.060	4.713	5.46
Homes & Adult Social Care	121.675	30.993	0.056	4.788	12.915	(1.865)	(7.862)	160.700	7.976	5.22
City Operations	49.858	0.044	0.055	1.435	3.240	(2.121)	(5.222)	47.289	(2.668)	(5.34)
Central Hub	31.827	-	0.082	0.817	2.514	(1.052)	(2.670)	31.518	(0.391)	(1.23)
Total Directorate Spending	280.940	39.743	0.254	9.722	24.309	(6.777)	(17.624)	330.567	9.630	3.00
Housing Benefit Subsidy	0.699	-	-	-	2.400	-	-	3.099	2.400	343.35
Bulk Insurance Premia	4.348	-	-	0.067	-	0.150	-	4.565	0.217	4.99
Capital Financing Costs	12.628	-	(0.088)	-	-	0.913	-	13.453	0.913	7.28
Corporate VFM Savings	(1.140)	-	-	(0.031)	1.171	-	(3.125)	(3.125)	(1.985)	174.12
Contingency and Risk Provisions	2.185	-	(0.844)	0.038	0.218	1.938	-	3.535	2.194	163.61
Unringfenced Grants	(29.226)	28.242	-	-	-	(14.316)	-	(15.300)	(14.316)	1,454.88
Levies to External Bodies	0.249	-	-	0.006	-	0.003	-	0.258	0.009	3.61
Other Corporate Budgets	(4.205)	-	0.668	(0.134)	-	(0.175)	-	(3.846)	(0.309)	8.74
NET REVENUE EXPENDITURE	266.478	67.985	(0.010)	9.668	28.098	(18.264)	(20.749)	333.206	(1.247)	(0.37)
Contributions to/ from (-) reserves	(1.659)	-	0.010	-	-	9.919	-	8.270	9.919	(601.52)
BUDGET REQUIREMENT	264.819	67.985	-	9.668	28.098	(8.345)	(20.749)	341.476	8.672	2.61
Funded By:
Revenue Support Grant	8.789							75.522	(1.252)	(1.63)
Business Rates Local Share	60.519							80.712	20.193	33.37
BRR Tariff/top-up	1.666							(22.270)	(23.936)	(1,436.73)
Business Rates Collection Fund surplus/(deficit)	(1.575)							(1.427)	0.148	(9.40)
Council Tax Collection Fund surplus/(deficit)	(2.204)							(1.071)	1.133	(51.41)
Council Tax	197.624							210.010	12.386	6.27
Total	264.819	-	-	-	-	-	-	341.476	8.672	2.61

2026/27 Revenue Budget – Gross Budget to Net Budget

               

 

Specific Government Grants 2026/27
Department	Grant	Budget 2026/27
		£m
Families, Children & Wellbeing
Commissioning & Communities	MHCLG Library PFI Grant	(1.505)
Commissioning & Communities	DfE Skills Bootcamp	(3.595)
Commissioning & Communities	DfE Funding for 6th Form Students	(0.147)
Commissioning & Communities	DfE ESFA Adult Safeguarded Learning	(0.570)
Commissioning & Communities	DWP Flexible Support Fund	(0.119)
Commissioning & Communities	MHCLG Homelessness, Rough Sleeping and Domestic Abuse Grant	(0.787)
Commissioning & Communities	MHCLG Homes for Ukraine scheme thank you payments	(0.650)
Commissioning & Communities	HO Asylum Seekers	(0.250)
Education & Learning	DfE Schools PFI Grant	(2.390)
Education & Learning	DfE Other Grants	(0.010)
Family Help & Protection	HO Asylum Seekers	(3.458)
Family Help & Protection	MJ Youth Justice Board Remand grant	(0.070)
Family Help & Protection	MJ Youth Justice Board General Funding	(0.257)
Family Help & Protection	DWP Parental Conflict Grant	(0.035)
Family Help & Protection	DCMS Hangleton & Knoll - Youth Investment Fund	(1.102)
Family Help & Protection	MHCLG Children, Families & Youth Grant	(3.827)
Public Health	DHSC Public Health Grant	(29.751)
Families, Children & Wellbeing Total		(48.523)
Homes & Adult Social Care
Adult Social Care	DHSC Local Reform Community Voice Grant	(0.152)
Adult Social Care	MHCLG Local Authority Better Care Grant	(11.579)
Commissioning & Partnerships	MHCLG Local Authority Better Care Grant	(0.090)
Housing People Services	MHCLG Homelessness, Rough Sleeping and Domestic Abuse Grant	(10.478)
Homes & Adult Social Care Total		(22.300)
City Operations
City Infrastructure	DfT Cycle Training Grant	(0.060)
City Infrastructure	DfT Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG)	(0.173)
City Infrastructure	DfT Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Capability Fund	(0.194)
City Infrastructure	DfT Bus Service Improvement Plan	(0.197)
City Infrastructure	DfT Local Transport Authority Capacity (Revenue) Grant	(0.048)
Environment & Culture	DEFRA Natural England High Level Steward	(0.060)
Environmental Services	MHCLG Waste PFI Grant	(1.550)
City Operations Total		(2.283)
Central Hub
Finance & Property	DWP Housing Benefit Admin Grant	(1.025)
Finance & Property	DWP HB Non-Subsidy Grants	(0.137)
Finance & Property	DWP Crisis & Resilience Fund	(3.682)
Governance & Law	Office of National Statistics Grant	(0.004)
People & Innovation	ESFA Apprenticeship Service Funding	(0.009)
Central Hub Total		(4.858)
Centrally Managed Budgets
Centrally Held Budgets	DWP Crisis & Resilience Fund	(0.300)
Housing Benefit Subsidy	DWP Housing Benefit Rent Allowance Subsidy	(51.777)
Housing Benefit Subsidy	DWP Housing Benefit Rent Rebate Subsidy	(29.088)
Centrally Managed Budgets Total		(81.165)
General Fund Total		(159.128)
Dedicated Schools Grant Funded (DSG)
Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG)	DfE Pupil Premium Grant	(9.024)
Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG)	DfE Funding for 6th Form Students	(3.046)
Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG)	DfE Dedicated Schools Grant	(245.866)
Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG)	DfE Universal Infant Free School Meals	(1.228)
Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG)	DfE Core School Budget Grant	(0.044)
Dedicated Schools Grant Funded (DSG) Total		(259.208)
BHCC Total		(418.336)

 

 

Summary of Capital Investment Programme 2026/27 to 2030/31
	Profiled Payments 2026/27	Profiled Payments 2027/28	Profiled Payments 2028/29	Profiled Payments 2029/30	Profiled Payments 2030/31
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Approved Schemes
Families, Children & Wellbeing	1.601	-	-	-	-
City Operations	39.375	9.742	6.584	5.490	2.500
Homes & Adult Social Care - HRA	35.593	0.200	0.100	0.100	-
Homes & Adult Social Care	1.523	0.500	0.500	0.500	0.500
Central Hub	1.896	0.745	0.535	0.500	-
Identified Schemes Not Yet approved
Families, Children & Wellbeing	5.043	4.849	4.600	4.600	4.600
City Operations	40.363	45.315	10.600	17.111	6.550
Homes & Adult Social Care - HRA	90.746	136.586	100.239	45.348	43.505
Homes & Adult Social Care	11.500	1.500	1.500	1.500	1.500
Central Hub	12.176	9.326	7.226	6.226	3.500
Total	239.816	208.763	131.884	81.375	62.655
Funded by:
Council Borrowing	42.686	9.380	6.220	5.190	2.500
Service Borrowing	82.021	106.609	82.781	29.169	27.520
CNF Borrowing	1.455	-	-	-	-
Government Grants (non-ringfenced) - no conditions	10.146	13.056	8.900	8.900	8.900
Government Grants (ringfenced) - with conditions	49.963	15.475	3.768	2.974	2.180
External Contributions	3.487	3.949	2.852	6.856	-
Section 106 Funding	0.076	-	-	2.455	-
Capital Receipts - GF	12.358	30.110	2.297	2.250	2.250
Capital Receipts - Flexible Funding	10.268	7.376	5.276	4.276	-
Capital Receipts - HRA	8.895	4.195	0.835	-	-
Capital Reserves - GF	0.184	-	-	-	-
Capital Reserves - HRA	-	-	-	-	-
Specific Reserves	1.000	1.000	1.000	1.000	1.000
Direct Revenue Funding	0.500	0.500	0.500	0.500	0.500
Revenue contribution to capital (HRA self-financing)	16.777	17.113	17.455	17.805	17.805
Total Funding	239.816	208.763	131.884	81.375	62.655
Funding Surplus/Shortfall	-	-	-	-	-

 

Families, Children & Wellbeing

 

Supporting a Better Brighton & Hove for All

The Families, Children and Wellbeing Directorate brings together different services for children and families including education and learning, family help and protection, libraries, community cohesion, Public Health and support for skills and employment. Much of the education and special educational needs provision is funded through the ring-fenced Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). This budget strategy is focused on General Fund spend.

 

The main area of General Fund spend relates to the placement costs for children and young people in care. Spend on children’s placements is under pressure given the national placement sufficiency issues. There is a national shortage of both foster care placements and residential provision.  This has resulted in children being placed in provision based on availability rather than need, often at an inflated cost.

 

Nationally the number of children with child protection plans and children being brought into care has continued reduced slightly over the last reported 12 months. Over recent years the numbers in Brighton & Hove have been reducing in the context of national rises. During 2025 the number of children subject to a child protection plan has remained relatively steady. The number of children in care, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, has risen slightly with the complexity of need increasing.

 

There has continued to be high numbers of children and young people experiencing emotional health and wellbeing difficulties and this together with an increase in the number of children with disabilities and complex needs requiring special residential provision continues to place huge pressure on budgets. Both locally and nationally, there has been an increase in the number of adolescents requiring intensive support due to the vulnerability to exploitation in all its forms.

 

Our vision is for a Directorate that is ambitious and committed to working with others to provide services and support that provide a better Brighton and Hove for all. We want to support Brighton and Hove to be a healthy city, where people thrive; where children, young people and families have a better future.  We are committed to operating as One Council, working together and across to both improve outcomes and reduce costs.  Inevitably, this will require difficult decisions in balancing untargeted, non-statutory support with preventative, statutory and safeguarding provision.

 

About the Services

There are four key branches in the directorate as follows:

 

Education and Learning

This service area includes:

•             Education including partnerships, school organisation, Access to Education and Hidden Children.

•             Virtual School for children in care and those previously in care and those open to children’s social work services.

•             Inclusion Support Services for schools including Education Psychology services and Schools Wellbeing services.

•             Special Educational Needs statutory service

•             Nurseries and Early Years.

 

Family Help and Protection

This service area includes:

•             Family Help and Protection services for children in need, those in need of protection, children in care and care experienced young people.

•             Specialist Community Disability services for 0-25 including respite and short breaks provision.

•             Fostering, family placement and permanence services for children in care

•             Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children services.

•             Specialist Adolescence and youth justice services.

•             Front Door for Families which includes the MASH (Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub).

•             Multi-disciplinary Partners in Change Hub.

•             Contact and Family Group Conference Services.

 

Commissioning and Communities

This service area includes:

•             Commissioning services including children’s placements; Home to School Transport.

•             Community cohesion services including community safety, Prevent and Violence Against Women & Girls

•             Libraries and customer.

•             Safeguarding Children Partnership, Quality Assurance and Performance Management.

•             Adult Education, Employment and Skills.

•             Third Sector commissioning.

 

Public Health

This service area includes:

•             Starting Well and Healthy Child Programme (0-19).

•             Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.

•             Drug and Alcohol treatment and recovery.

•             Sexual Health & contraception services.

•             Healthy Lifestyles.

•             Health Protection.

•             Ageing Well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Service Metrics

The Directorate provides a range of different services from universal to those targeted at small groups of people with very high levels of need and/or where we are required to fulfil a statutory duty. Some of the key groups of users we interact with are as follows*:

 

Children and Family Services

·           29,881 pupils on roll in our Maintained, Academy and Free schools in October 2025 (School Census).  

·           7,882 Parents/Carers applied for school places (2024-25 academic year).

·           5,592 children at Maintained, Academy and Free schools were receiving SEN support, and 1,841 children had an Education, Health & Care Plan in October 2025 (School Census).

·           7,648 pupils from Reception to Year 11 in receipt of free school meals in October 2025 (School Census).

·           601 children attended Family Hub nurseries between April 2024 and March 2025.

·           16,410 contacts were received by Front Door for Families during the year ending November 2025, of these 2,706 were safeguarding concerns that required follow up work.

·           2,351 Children and young people supported by Family Hubs between December 2024 and November 2025.

·           1,819 children supported by statutory social work services including 392 open to Children Disability Services and 274 children with a child protection plan (as at 30^th November 2025)

·           Corporate Parent to 351 children in care, including 41 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, and 355 care leavers aged between the ages of 17 and 25 (November 2025).

·           499 pupils in Brighton and Hove are educated at home (September 2025)

·           159 in-house foster carer households and 27 Supported Lodgings households (December 2025).

 

*              Please note these figures are a mixture of snapshots in time or usage over a set period and are shared with the intention of being illustrative.

 

Public Health

This service area includes: 

·                     Drugs and alcohol treatment and recovery.

·                     Sexual Health.

·                     Children 0-19 Public Health programmes.

·                     Healthy Lifestyles team.

·                     A range of Public Health and Health Improvement services and functions including promotion of physical activity, stop smoking, weight management, NHS Health Checks, Ageing Well, public mental health, local health protection.

 

The Public Health grant is ring fenced and plays a vital role in the overarching council budget strategy given its focus on prevention.  The grant supports delivering population health outcomes and contributes to the financial stability of both the directorate and the Council.  Public Health services and functions are critical to the delivery of wider corporate and directorate priorities working with external partners and stakeholders.

 

Community Safety

In 2024/2025 the Community Safety Casework Team (CSCT) received a total 461 initial reports or enquiries to its Duty service as follows: 

• 379 initial reports regarding Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) or Hate Incidents received in 2024/25.

• 82 other reports and enquiries e.g. noise nuisance, enquiries about rogue landlords, professional enquiries for advice.

 

Libraries

In 2024/25:

• 1,256,033 visits to 13 Libraries offering services to customers across the city 7 days/week of which 104,828 were to Libraries Extra (unstaffed) libraries.
• 1,245,130 items loaned of which 566,060 are e-loans of books, audio books, magazines and newspapers.
• 61,169 hours of public PC use.
• More than 31,368 engagements with our programme of events including Baby Boogie, Refugee Week and Summer Reading Challenge.
• Over 2,539 Business and Intellectual Property (IP) Centre engagements including networking, workshops and 1:1s

 

April 2025 – November 2025

• 779,100 visits to 13 Libraries offering services to customers across the city 7 days/week of which 74,659 were to Libraries Extra (unstaffed) libraries.
• 906,043 items loaned of which 445,793 are e-loans of books, audio books, magazines and newspapers.
• 39,876 hours of public PC use.
• More than 15,602 engagements with our programme of events including Baby Boogie, Refugee Week and Summer Reading Challenge.
• Over 1,122 Business and Intellectual Property (IP) Centre engagements including networking, workshops and 1:1s

 

 

 

 

Families, Children & Wellbeing Budget Summary
2025/26 Net Expenditure / (Income)		2026/27 Budget					2026/27 Budgeted Contracted Staff
	Service Area	Expenditure	Income	Budget Allocation	Capital Charges & Recharges	Net Expenditure / (Income)
£m		£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	FTE
24.969	Commissioning & Communities	29.480	(9.446)	20.034	5.748	25.782	156.4
21.675	Education & Learning	12.565	(5.084)	7.481	12.031	19.512	182.6
56.637	Family Help & Protection	73.693	(10.148)	63.545	4.432	67.977	527.7
0.168	Public Health	30.434	(30.434)	-	0.189	0.189	60.5
103.450	Families, Children & Wellbeing Total (Excluding DSG)	146.172	(55.112)	91.060	22.399	113.459	927.2
-	Dedicated Schools Grant Funded (DSG)	259.674	(260.784)	(1.110)	1.110	-	143.1
103.450	Families, Children & Wellbeing Total (Including DSG)	405.846	(315.896)	89.950	23.509	113.459	1,070.3

* The budgeted FTE number for DSG does not include staff directly employed by schools.

Families, Children & Wellbeing 2026/27 Revenue Budget Breakdown
Service Description	Employee Expenditure	Other Expenditure	Total Expenditure	Income From Fees, Charges & Rents	Other Income	Government Grants	Total Income	Total Budget Allocation	Capital Charges & Recharges	Net Expenditure / (Income)
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Commissioning & Communities
Adult Learning Disability Services	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0.045	0.045
Children in Care	0.881	0.004	0.885	-	-	-	-	0.885	0.049	0.934
Children's Social Care Services	1.670	(0.064)	1.606	-	-	-	-	1.606	0.189	1.795
Communities	0.371	1.828	2.199	(0.050)	(0.050)	-	(0.100)	2.099	(0.152)	1.948
Community Safety	0.985	2.351	3.336	-	(0.460)	(1.687)	(2.147)	1.189	0.188	1.377
Libraries & Information Services	2.614	3.256	5.870	(0.407)	(0.001)	(1.505)	(1.913)	3.958	2.113	6.071
Other Education Services	0.583	8.857	9.441	(0.045)	(0.119)	-	(0.165)	9.276	0.164	9.440
Royal Pavilion & Museums	0.024	0.372	0.395	-	(0.020)	-	(0.020)	0.376	0.099	0.474
Schools Skills & Learning	1.099	4.118	5.217	(0.075)	(0.099)	(4.431)	(4.605)	0.612	0.265	0.877
Children's Services Central Costs	0.420	0.111	0.531	(0.005)	(0.492)	-	(0.496)	0.035	2.788	2.822
Commissioning & Communities Total	8.647	20.833	29.480	(0.582)	(1.241)	(7.623)	(9.446)	20.034	5.748	25.782
Education & Learning
Early Years and Early Help	3.355	(0.692)	2.663	(0.839)	(0.022)	-	(0.861)	1.802	1.572	3.375
Other Education Services	0.956	4.262	5.218	(0.115)	(0.418)	(2.399)	(2.932)	2.286	9.974	12.261
Schools	0.059	0.052	0.111	-	-	-	-	0.111	0.021	0.132
Special Educational Needs	5.121	(0.548)	4.574	(0.006)	(1.286)	-	(1.292)	3.282	0.462	3.744
Education & Learning Total	9.491	3.075	12.565	(0.959)	(1.726)	(2.399)	(5.084)	7.481	12.031	19.512
Family Help & Protection
Children in Care	9.296	36.581	45.877	(0.063)	(0.459)	(3.528)	(4.050)	41.828	1.727	43.554
Children's Social Care Services	17.705	5.538	23.243	(0.090)	(0.400)	(4.084)	(4.575)	18.668	2.041	20.709
Early Years and Early Help	3.731	(1.020)	2.711	(0.064)	(0.037)	(0.035)	(0.136)	2.576	0.492	3.068
Services for Young People	0.247	1.614	1.861	(0.015)	(0.271)	(1.102)	(1.387)	0.474	0.173	0.646
Family Help & Protection Total	30.979	42.714	73.693	(0.233)	(1.166)	(8.749)	(10.148)	63.545	4.432	67.977
Public Health
Children's Public Health Programmes (5-19)	0.187	7.828	8.015	-	(0.013)	-	(0.013)	8.002	0.217	8.220
Commissioning	0.711	1.023	1.734	-	-	(29.751)	(29.751)	(28.017)	(1.858)	(29.874)
Miscellaneous Public Health Services	1.180	1.700	2.880	-	(0.204)	-	(0.204)	2.676	0.347	3.023
NHS Health Check Programmes	0.154	0.278	0.433	-	-	-	-	0.433	0.157	0.590
Obesity	0.052	0.390	0.442	-	-	-	-	0.442	0.083	0.524
Physical Activity	0.505	0.052	0.557	-	(0.015)	-	(0.015)	0.542	0.165	0.707
Public Health Advice	0.249	0.015	0.265	-	-	-	-	0.265	0.079	0.344
Sexual Health Services	0.143	5.159	5.302	-	(0.330)	-	(0.330)	4.972	0.313	5.285
Substance Misuse	0.782	10.025	10.807	-	(0.122)	-	(0.122)	10.685	0.686	11.371
Public Health Total	3.965	26.469	30.434	-	(0.683)	(29.751)	(30.434)	-	0.189	0.189
Families, Children & Wellbeing Total	53.081	93.091	146.172	(1.774)	(4.816)	(48.523)	(55.112)	91.060	22.399	113.459

 

Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) 2026/27 Revenue Budget Breakdown
Service Description	Employee Expenditure	Other Expenditure	Total Expenditure	Income From Fees, Charges & Rents	Other Income	Government Grants	Total Income	Total Budget Allocation	Capital Charges & Recharges	Net Expenditure / (Income)
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Dedicated Schools Grant	-	-	-	-	-	(245.866)	(245.866)	(245.866)	-	(245.866)
Early Years and Early Help	0.821	47.303	48.124	(0.025)	-	-	(0.025)	48.099	0.186	48.285
Other Education Services	0.451	0.037	0.488	(0.130)	-	-	(0.130)	0.358	0.047	0.405
Schools	156.059	18.805	174.865	(1.373)	-	(12.698)	(14.071)	160.794	0.161	160.955
Special Educational Needs	5.507	30.690	36.197	(0.048)	-	(0.644)	(0.692)	35.505	0.716	36.221
Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Total	162.839	96.835	259.674	(1.576)	-	(259.208)	(260.784)	(1.110)	1.110	-

 

Families, Children & Wellbeing Capital Investment Programme 2026/27 to 2030/31
	Profiled Payments 2026/27	Profiled Payments 2027/28	Profiled Payments 2028/29	Profiled Payments 2029/30	Profiled Payments 2030/31
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Approved Schemes
Universal Free School Meals	0.182	-	-	-	-
High Needs Provision Capital	1.419	-	-	-	-
Identified Schemes Not Yet approved
Education Capital Maintenance Grant	3.650	3.600	3.600	3.600	3.600
Schools Devolved Formula Capital Grant	0.500	0.500	0.500	0.500	0.500
Structural Maintenance Contribution	0.500	0.500	0.500	0.500	0.500
Basic Need Capital Grant (26-27 onwards)	0.393	0.249	-	-	-
Total Families, Children & Wellbeing	6.644	4.849	4.600	4.600	4.600

Homes & Adult Social Care

 

Supporting a Better Brighton & Hove for All

The Homes and Adult Social Care directorate was created in January 2025.  The directorate primarily contributes to the council priorities of being a fair and inclusive city, a healthy city where residents thrive and providing responsive and well-run services.  Both Adult Social Care and Housing have seen regulatory inspections and ratings being re-introduced by the Care Quality Commission (for Adult Social Care) and the Regulator for Social Housing (RSH) and Building Safety Regulator for Housing (for Housing).  Following engagement with the RSH, the safety and quality of our housing stock was rated C3 and for ASC our inspection by CQC led to a rating of Requires Improvement.

 

About the Services

The Homes and Adult Social Care directorate consists of Housing and Adult Social Care services.

 

Housing services include:

•    Council housing landlord services comprising:

o    Tenancy Services, including the Travellers Service.

o    Housing Repairs & Maintenance.

o    Housing Investment & Asset Management.

o    Increasing the supply of homes in the city.

•    Regulating the quality of private sector housing.

•    Providing temporary and emergency accommodation (homelessness).

•    Providing supported accommodation.

•    Managing the Housing Register and Allocations Policy.

 

Adult Social Care services include:

•    Services for vulnerable adults with Care Act eligible needs including:

o       Assessment and Commissioning Services.

o       Carelink Out of Hours Services.

o       Support for Older people including those with memory or cognition conditions.

o       Support for physical and sensory disabilities.

o       Mental health services in partnership with Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust.

o       Services for adults with learning disability and autism from 25 years.

o       Support for carers and all ancillary activities.

•    Note, services for adults with learning disability and autism up to 25 years old continue to be delivered through the Families, Children and Wellbeing Directorate, with delegated powers within that Directorate for budget spend for this cohort. However, the whole budget for all adult social care services, including adults with a learning disability are within scope of this strategy.

Service Metrics

Adult Social Care

 

Funded Care Service	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23	2023/24	2024/25
Adults receiving domiciliary care	2,369	2,162	2,060	2,216	2,425
Adults receiving residential care	801	722	736	736	775
Adults receiving nursing care	599	494	511	551	600
Adults receiving a direct payment	600	610	627	638	625
Total number of adults provided with long term funded care during the period	4,369	3,988	3,934	4,141	4,425

 

The data indicates that, after a period of decline, there has been a steady increase in the number of adults receiving long-term funded care in Brighton & Hove. This trend has now returned to the levels observed in 2020/21, with 4,425 individuals receiving long-term care over the past year. This is in line with reported trends nationally with the total number of people receiving long-term support increasing from 667,000 on 31 October 2024 to 683,000 on 30 September 2025.

 

Latest snapshot data shows that at the end of Sep 2025, 3,580 people in Brighton and Hove aged 18+ years were accessing long term support. This represents 1,509 people per 100,000 adults aged 18+ living in the area.  This is greater than 1,471 people accessing long term support per 100,000 adults aged 18+ in England overall.

 

Looking at the support across community, residential and nursing care:

·         71.4% of these people (2,555) were supported through community care, which is less than 71.7% for England overall

·         17.5% (625) were supported through residential care, which is less than 20.3% for England overall

·         11.2% (400) were supported through nursing care, which is greater than 8.0% for England overall

 

For adults aged 18-64 accessing long-term support in Brighton & Hove, the rate is 52.4%, notably higher than the England average of 41.1%. This discrepancy should be considered in the context of the increasing complexity of individual cases within this age group, Brighton & Hove having the highest proportion (82.9%) of the population aged 18-64 in England, and the consistent rise in provider unit costs.

 

In a recent inspection by CQC, our services in relation to assessment and review of needs as well as commissioning services to meet people’s needs was found overall to be Requires Improvement.  The saving proposals in the medium-term financial strategy align with the Improvement Plan in relation to striving for a rating of Good or Outstanding in the future.

 

 

 

 

Housing

·      Housing sees approximately 3,000 homeless households each year seeking housing advice, including those who are at risk of homelessness or already homeless. Early intervention and prevention work is reducing levels of homelessness. However, levels of demand for assistance for homeless households are unprecedented in line with national trends. Numbers of households in temporary accommodation is high but the proportion of households where homelessness is not prevented is reducing.

·      Currently license 9,000 private sector homes across the city through our three licensing schemes.

·      The Private Sector Housing Team receive approximately 600 requests for assistance each year. 

·      We are on target to achieve 144 new units of affordable council homes for 2025/26.

·      Annual HRA rents and service charges of £80m per year; across the last 12 months we have completed work on 813 empty homes, making over 67 homes available to council tenants and households in council-managed temporary accommodation per month for rent; we completed over 42,400 repairs, an average of 3,535 repairs per month or 167 repairs every working day.

·      Average capital programme of around £50m a year improving homes over 4 years; Proposed investment in major and planned works to council homes of £88m over the next 3 years; Proposed investment in health & safety of council homes of £39m over the next 3 years; proposed investment of £236m in new homes over the next four years to 2029/30. However, there are likely to be new urgent investment requirements during this period.

 

 

 

Homes & Adult Social Care Budget Summary
2025/26 Net Expenditure / (Income)		2026/27 Budget					2026/27 Budgeted Contracted Staff
	Service Area	Expenditure	Income	Budget Allocation	Capital Charges & Recharges	Net Expenditure / (Income)
£m		£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	FTE
113.694	Adult Social Care	192.781	(58.641)	134.140	6.901	141.041	572.1
4.727	Commissioning & Partnerships	8.149	(2.667)	5.482	(0.512)	4.970	58.7
10.158	Housing People Services	42.802	(22.493)	20.309	1.297	21.606	130.6
1.112	Homes & Investment	1.314	(0.545)	0.769	0.322	1.091	47.9
129.690	Homes & Adult Social Care Total (Excluding HRA)	245.047	(84.347)	160.700	8.009	168.709	809.3
-	Housing Revenue Account (HRA)	82.247	(86.870)	(4.623)	4.623	-	515.5
129.690	Homes & Adult Social Cares Total (Including HRA)	327.293	(171.216)	156.077	12.632	168.709	1,324.8

 

 

 

 

 

Homes & Adult Social Care 2026/27 Revenue Budget Breakdown
Service Description	Employee Expenditure	Other Expenditure	Total Expenditure	Income From Fees, Charges & Rents	Other Income	Government Grants	Total Income	Total Budget Allocation	Capital Charges & Recharges	Net Expenditure / (Income)
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Adult Social Care
Adult Learning Disability Services	7.881	54.878	62.758	(2.981)	(1.463)	(3.305)	(7.749)	55.010	2.298	57.308
Assistive Equipment & Technology	1.797	2.737	4.533	(0.814)	(2.897)	-	(3.711)	0.822	0.241	1.063
Clients with Memory/Cognition Support	3.613	19.365	22.978	(5.534)	(2.401)	(1.061)	(8.996)	13.982	1.079	15.061
Clients with Mental Health Support	-	23.462	23.462	(0.613)	(8.281)	(1.061)	(9.955)	13.507	0.250	13.758
Clients with Physical Support	5.257	55.502	60.760	(12.534)	(6.205)	(5.996)	(24.735)	36.025	1.463	37.488
Clients with Sensory Support	-	0.202	0.202	(0.040)	-	-	(0.040)	0.163	0.035	0.198
Clients with Substance Misuse Support	-	0.718	0.718	(0.010)	-	-	(0.010)	0.708	0.024	0.732
Social Care Activities	14.208	0.880	15.088	(0.037)	(1.613)	(0.309)	(1.960)	13.129	1.165	14.294
Supported Accommodation	1.668	0.614	2.282	(1.435)	(0.053)	-	(1.488)	0.794	0.346	1.140
Adult Social Care Total	34.424	158.358	192.781	(23.998)	(22.912)	(11.731)	(58.641)	134.140	6.901	141.041
Commissioning & Partnerships
Commissioning & Service Delivery	3.643	2.044	5.687	(0.066)	(1.045)	(0.090)	(1.202)	4.485	(0.600)	3.885
Housing Related (Supporting People)	-	1.401	1.401	(0.095)	(0.739)	-	(0.834)	0.567	0.034	0.601
Information & Early Intervention	0.133	0.144	0.277	-	(0.049)	-	(0.049)	0.228	0.043	0.271
Support To Carers	-	0.784	0.784	-	(0.582)	-	(0.582)	0.202	0.011	0.213
Commissioning & Partnerships Total	3.776	4.373	8.149	(0.161)	(2.416)	(0.090)	(2.667)	5.482	(0.512)	4.970
Housing People Services
Housing Options & Homelessness	2.808	0.111	2.918	-	(0.002)	(2.911)	(2.913)	0.005	0.333	0.339
Temporary Accommodation	2.991	36.368	39.359	(11.790)	(0.102)	(7.567)	(19.460)	19.899	0.778	20.677
Travellers Services	0.208	0.317	0.525	(0.120)	-	-	(0.120)	0.405	0.186	0.590
Housing People Services Total	6.007	36.795	42.802	(11.911)	(0.104)	(10.478)	(22.493)	20.309	1.297	21.606
Homes & Investment
Housing Strategy & Enabling	0.187	0.005	0.192	-	(0.009)	-	(0.009)	0.183	0.030	0.213
Private Sector Housing	1.089	0.033	1.122	(0.536)	-	-	(0.536)	0.586	0.292	0.878
Homes & Investment Total	1.276	0.038	1.314	(0.536)	(0.009)	-	(0.545)	0.769	0.322	1.091
Homes & Adult Social Care Total	45.482	199.564	245.047	(36.606)	(25.441)	(22.300)	(84.347)	160.700	8.009	168.709

 

Housing Revenue Account (HRA) 2026/27 Revenue Budget Breakdown
Service Description	Employee Expenditure	Other Expenditure	Total Expenditure	Income From Fees, Charges & Rents	Other Income	Government Grants	Total Income	Total Budget Allocation	Capital Charges & Recharges	Net Expenditure / (Income)
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Estate Regeneration	0.496	0.033	0.530	-	-	-	-	0.530	-	0.530
Housing Management & Support	2.807	32.981	35.788	-	(0.128)	-	(0.128)	35.660	4.623	40.283
Housing Strategy (HRA)	0.814	1.244	2.058	-	-	-	-	2.058	-	2.058
Income Involvement & Improvement	2.794	1.096	3.890	(83.068)	(0.034)	-	(83.101)	(79.211)	-	(79.211)
Property & Investment	13.267	15.001	28.269	(3.550)	-	-	(3.550)	24.719	-	24.719
Tenancy Services	7.368	4.344	11.713	(0.090)	-	-	(0.090)	11.622	-	11.622
Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Total	27.547	54.699	82.247	(86.708)	(0.162)	-	(86.870)	(4.623)	4.623	-

 

Homes & Adult Social Care - GF Capital Investment Programme 2026/27 to 2030/31
	Profiled Payments 2026/27	Profiled Payments 2027/28	Profiled Payments 2028/29	Profiled Payments 2029/30	Profiled Payments 2030/31
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Approved Schemes
Knoll House Building Works	0.850	-	-	-	-
New Steine Mews – Health and Safety Works	0.100	-	-	-	-
LDV On-Going Costs - Community Homes (B&HSCH)	0.500	0.500	0.500	0.500	0.500
Housing Needs System	0.073	-	-	-	-
Identified Schemes Not Yet approved
Better Care Funding - Capital Grant	0.500	0.500	0.500	0.500	0.500
Disabled Facilities Grant (Better Care Funding) - Capital Grant	1.000	1.000	1.000	1.000	1.000
Temporary Accommodation	10.000	-	-	-	-
Total Homes & Adult Social Care - GF	13.023	2.000	2.000	2.000	2.000

 

 

Homes & Adult Social Care - HRA Capital Investment Programme 2026/27 to 2030/31
	Profiled Payments 2026/27	Profiled Payments 2027/28	Profiled Payments 2028/29	Profiled Payments 2029/30	Profiled Payments 2030/31
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Approved Schemes
Disrepair Capital Works	0.300	0.200	0.100	0.100	-
Windlesham Close	1.055	-	-	-	-
Fire Safety	(4.800)	-	-	-	-
New Build Refurbishment (Converting Spaces in Existing Buildings)	3.000	-	-	-	-
Structural Repairs	15.719	-	-	-	-
Moulsecoomb Hub - Housing	10.388	-	-	-	-
Rotherfield Crescent	1.000	-	-	-	-
Eastergate Road	6.594	-	-	-	-
EICR Compliance Programme	(3.000)	-	-	-	-
Large Panel Systems	5.133	-	-	-	-
Hollingbury Library	(0.035)	-	-	-	-
Portslade Village Centre	0.239	-	-	-	-
Identified Schemes Not Yet approved
HRA Capital Investment Programme 2026-27	90.746	-	-	-	-
HRA Capital Investment Programme 2027-28	-	136.586	-	-	-
HRA Capital Investment Programme 2028-29	-	-	100.239	-	-
HRA Capital Investment Programme 2029-30	-	-	-	45.348	-
HRA Capital Investment Programme 2030-31	-	-	-	-	43.505
Total Homes & Adult Social Care - HRA	126.339	136.786	100.339	45.448	43.505

City Operations

 

Supporting a Better Brighton & Hove for All

City Operations’ focus is on making the city a vibrant place where people want to live, visit and do business, and where the unique character of Brighton and Hove is celebrated and enhanced. This includes making the city an accessible and sustainable place where people are well-connected and can enjoy an attractive, well-maintained built and natural environment.

 

The focus during 2026/27 is driving innovation and the sustainable transformation of service delivery, ensuring our services are reliable, well-run and support the continued improvement to the look and feel of the city. We will work in partnership to make progress towards our net zero ambitions, seeking to work with others to bring forward innovative projects such as the development of a solar farm, and seeking to secure a strategic energy partnership. As we work with others, we will collaborate to with our residents and businesses to find improvements to the services we offer, offer new paid for services and finding opportunities to work with the amazing army of volunteers across the city. More widely, we will develop our commercial strategy, bringing forward new ideas that capitalise on the unique assets and heritage of our city, and drive income through our venues and events, whilst protecting our open spaces and aligning our income ambitions with the place we want to become, A Better Brighton and Hove for All. Our focus will also be on working with partners to prepare for the opportunities that a new Sussex & Brighton Combined Mayoral Authority will bring to our place-based ambitions.

 

About the Services

Place

Place leads on place-making and many of the council’s built environment functions. The service shapes development in the city through the statutory plan making process, development management and building control to ensure good urban design and protection of heritage, as well as compliance with building regulations to ensure safety. Driving the city’s progress towards net zero, the focus is on delivery of high impact projects to address the effects of climate change and sustainable development.

 

The Place directorate also shapes the city through its major regeneration programme and investment in major projects, including development of new affordable homes through the Homes for Brighton & Hove joint venture and New Homes for Neighbourhoods Programme. The team includes the council’s in-house Architecture and Design service and has a focus on creating better buildings and public spaces which are more climate resilient.

 

City Infrastructure – Transport and Regulatory Services

City Infrastructure develops clear plans to address the city’s current and future transport needs, working closely with Transport for The South East (TfSE) and other transport partners to deliver major highway infrastructure projects on key travel routes, such as Valley Gardens. A key priority is to maintain and improve the city’s transport network to transform user experience, increase resilience and extend the life of key highway assets, including managing the risks posed by flooding and protecting coastal highway structures. The service also ensures the city keeps moving through regulating road use, managing on-street and off-street parking and ensuring that all works are coordinated on the highway. Influencing people’s travel choices to reduce congestion and support improvements in air quality is also an important focus, providing sustainable transport options including enhancements in public transport, walking and cycling schemes, concessionary travel and an electric vehicle charging network.

Regulatory Services provides a broad range of services including Food Safety, Environmental Protection, Health & Safety, Licensing, Trading Standards and Animal Licensing. The budget is linked to statutory functions to provide a wide range of Environmental health and regulatory services which protect public health.

 

Environmental Services

Environmental Services delivers recycling, refuse and street cleansing services to improve the cleanliness of the city and meet the council’s environmental obligations. This includes traded commercial, bulky and garden waste services to residents and businesses across the city. Through the delivery of major projects, focused on reducing waste, maximising recycling and minimising waste sent to landfill, the service delivers ongoing and significant projects. This focus will continue with ongoing changes to increase the materials that can be recycled, further embed behaviour change linked to the new food waste collection service, and ongoing improvements to the service through digital and cultural transformation.

 

Culture & Environment

Culture & Environment manages the city’s visitor economy assets including the Brighton Centre, parks and the seafront to ensure the city remains a leading national and international visitor destination. It oversees an annual programme of varied and inclusive major outdoor events and community events to promote the city, and manages major contracts with key culture providers, including the Royal Pavilion Museums Trust and Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival, to ensure they have a diverse reach and contribute to the city’s economic ambitions. The service is responsible for managing and conserving every park and green open spaces, ensuring that our spaces are accessible whilst conserving and managing habitats and spaces where plants and animals can thrive, and biodiversity is restored.

 

The service also leads the delivery of the council’s ten-year plan for revitalising sports facilities and manages contracts with the RNLI for the seasonal beach lifeguards service, leisure contract, and investments in key leisure assets.

 

Digital Innovation

The IT & Digital (IT&D) service has been an in-house function working in partnership with East Sussex County Council and Surrey County Council. This partnership has delivered significant savings, but as we approach a period of significant transformation, with digital at the heart of the changes in many services, 26/27 will be about embedding a new sovereign service, tailored to the needs of Brighton & Hove. The service has supported digital innovation across the council, supporting the trialling of new technologies that will enable transformation of council services, both in terms of efficiency and in terms of managing demand.

 

 

Service Metrics

Place

·         One of the top twenty busiest unitary authority Planning services in England, dealing with 3000+ applications and 600+ enforcement case each year

·         Nationally recognised as a gold standard planning authority on the processing of planning applications for speed and quality.

·         421 new council homes in the current New Homes for Neighbourhoods programme with an additional 465 potential homes in programme pipeline.

·         Homes for Brighton & Hove joint venture have 306 homes now with planning permission and ready to start on site (60% of which are council homes to be let at Social Rents). 

·         Phase 1 of the restoration of Madeira Terraces is progressing and a planning application for the new King Alfred Centre is due to be submitted early in the 2026.  

·         Managing the UK’s only urban UNESCO Biosphere Region covering a newly expanded region of 700km2 and 550,000 residents, on behalf of the Living Coast Partnership.

·         Commissioned background studies to inform the City Plan review.

·         Brought forward the first round of spending of Strategic CIL and rolled out the first round of consultation of spending the Better Brighton & Hove Fund.

·         Enabled the building of 1298 new homes in the city in 2024/25 - the highest level of housebuilding in over 20 years.

·         Awarded “A” status for climate action by the CDP and amongst the top 10% of councils by Climate Action UK

Generating 1 million kilowatt hours of clean energy from our leisure centre rooftop solar PV arrays

Conversion of Peter Gladwin school to 100% low carbon heating

 

City Infrastructure

Transport

·       Managing highway infrastructure worth £4bn, including 624km of carriageway, 38km of cycle lanes and 1,200km of footways.

·       Delivering a four year £39m Local Authority Bus Grant Delivery Programme.  

·       Issuing and enforcing approximately 4,000 skips, scaffold and tables & chairs licences on the highway.

·       450+ on-street electric vehicle charging points installed and 3 rapid charging hubs across the city.

·       Monitoring 240+ CCTV cameras to manage traffic throughout the city which issue 100,000 PCN’s each year.

·       £10m+ invested in concessionary travel each year and 10,000+ concessionary bus passes issued. 

·       Managing 37,000+ resident parking permit accounts and 44,000+ on and off-street car park spaces.

·       Managing 6 multi storey and 4 surface off-street car parks with 2,500 spaces, 1m transactions per annum brining in £10m income.

 

Regulatory Services

•      Over 98% of the 2964 food businesses in the city rated 3 or above on the national Food Hygiene Rating Scheme.

•      1,400 premises licensed venues and 270 gambling premises licensed in the city. 1054 licensed taxi drivers. 575 Hackney Carriage and 367 private hire vehicles licensed: 57 operators.

•      Over 1,100 noise complaints including both domestic and commercial requiring investigation in 2025.

•      Obtained £95,139 worth of refunds and compensation for vulnerable consumers in 2025.

·       Air pollution is monitored citywide, including in six declared Air Quality Management Areas where nitrogen dioxide is at risk of exceeding national air quality standards.

 

Environmental Services

·       Carrying out 5 million refuse collections and 2.5 million recycling collections each year. 

·       Providing power to fuel 25,000 homes a year by recovering energy from waste that cannot be recycled.

·       Management and maintenance of 450 council vehicles, including 68 electric vehicles.

·       Maintaining and cleaning 750 miles of pavement.

·       Maintaining 34 public toilet sites and delivering a £4.5m refurbishment programme.

·       Issuing around 3,000 fixed penalty notices each year for environmental offences.

 

Culture & Environment

·         Sports facilities with over 1.5 million attendances in the city each year.

·         Co-ordinating approx. 200 outdoor events and 400 filming activities each year, with over 0.5m participants.

·         Delivering a new events strategy to protect the city environment and increase inclusion while increasing event income

·         Approx. 70,000 resident visits equating to 24% of the city’s population and 18,000 school aged children engaging in formal learning across the Royal Pavilion and Museums.

·         2,500 people participating in the Family Day Take Part Day hosted at the Corn Exchange

·         6,000 residents engaged in Brighton Festival Children’s Parade 2025

·         Over 1,000 attendances at Audience Club, part of Brighton Festival 2025 ‘Our Place’- reaching communities in Hangleton & East Brighton

·         Sharing resources and information with more than 1,600 creative businesses and artists in the city, coordinating strategy and sector development and offering business development through initiatives like Create Southeast with local authority partners in Essex, Kent and Sussex and Creative UK.

·         Overseeing all public art projects in the city including monitoring s106 obligations, engaging with developers and initiating collaborative projects with stakeholders. Active projects being managed have a combined investment value to the city of £1,350,905.

·         13 km of seafront, working 365 days a year with 200 properties under management

·         Managing and operating the Volk’s Railway, the world’s oldest electric railway, carrying over 100,000 passengers a year.

·         Brighton Centre delivers over £60m of economic impact for the city per annum, via 200 booked event days attracting 260,000 visitors.

·         Managing 147 parks and gardens, 74 outdoor spaces, 8 cemeteries and more than 3,000 allotments.

·         Maintains 53 playgrounds and continuing a refurbishment programme through capital investment.

·         Managing more than 12,000 street trees and over 500 hectares of woodland.

·         Continuing to improve our leisure centres in line with the sports facilities improvement plan.

 

Digital Innovation

·       Delivers an agile approach to digital innovation, drawing insight from other organisations and best practice to driver forward savings linked to new technology that will both bring efficiencies and manage demand.

·       Maintains and supports the mission critical underpinning IT infrastructure used to run back-office services and deliver services to residents. This includes the management and procurement of devices (e.g., laptops), software (e.g., Microsoft O365), network connectivity, telephony (mobile, contact centre and office), data centre and data storage services, Always on VPN (AOVPN remote access) and other contracts.

·       Supports the day-to-day provision use of hardware, software and IT applications.

·       Provides cyber resilience through the procurement and use of cyber monitoring and filtering technologies, as well, as the provision of secure remote connection that enables remote access to council systems and data.

·       Provides traded IT support and training services to schools in the City of Brighton and Hove.

·       Delivers projects and programmes to support the adoption of new IT and digital capabilities to enable service improvement and improved resident experience.

·       Delivers the DDaT strategy under the council’s ‘well run Council’ objective which aims to improve resident’s access to services, reduce failure demand and improve our reputation through the provision of easy-to-use online services. The associated programmes also establish the foundational approaches to support better management and exploitation of data assets through new technologies, such as AI.

·       Support the council’s adherence to IT and data regulation and compliance standards including GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and PSN (Public Service Network) code of connection services.

 

City Operations Budget Summary
2025/26 Net Expenditure / (Income)		2026/27 Budget					2026/27 Budgeted Contracted Staff
	Service Area	Expenditure	Income	Budget Allocation	Capital Charges & Recharges	Net Expenditure / (Income)
£m		£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	FTE
12.617	City Infrastructure	45.771	(52.192)	(6.421)	16.254	9.833	303.7
21.459	Culture & Environment	20.494	(11.603)	8.891	15.169	24.060	224.7
37.310	Environmental Services	43.520	(10.393)	33.127	4.561	37.688	433.6
4.170	Place	5.084	(2.500)	2.584	1.554	4.138	90.3
(0.891)	Digital Innovation	9.288	(0.180)	9.108	(9.438)	(0.330)	122.7
74.664	City Operations Total	124.158	(76.869)	47.289	28.099	75.388	1,175.0

 

City Operations 2026/27 Revenue Budget Breakdown
Service Description	Employee Expenditure	Other Expenditure	Total Expenditure	Income From Fees, Charges & Rents	Other Income	Government Grants	Total Income	Total Budget Allocation	Capital Charges & Recharges	Net Expenditure / (Income)
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
City Infrastructure
Animal Welfare	0.144	0.070	0.214	(0.008)	-	-	(0.008)	0.206	0.015	0.222
Concessionary Bus Fares	-	11.070	11.070	(0.021)	-	-	(0.021)	11.049	0.086	11.135
Environmental Health	1.097	(0.003)	1.094	(0.011)	-	-	(0.011)	1.083	0.127	1.210
Highway & Traffic Management	0.786	1.199	1.985	(1.061)	-	-	(1.061)	0.924	0.868	1.792
Highway Assets & Maintenance	1.152	2.714	3.866	(0.015)	-	-	(0.015)	3.851	4.403	8.254
Licensing	0.713	0.049	0.761	(0.986)	-	-	(0.986)	(0.225)	0.234	0.009
Parking Operations	7.187	11.187	18.373	(47.556)	-	(0.194)	(47.750)	(29.377)	2.792	(26.584)
Pest Control	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0.004	0.004
Public Transport	0.452	0.623	1.075	(0.735)	(0.016)	(0.370)	(1.121)	(0.046)	0.150	0.104
Road Safety	0.617	0.040	0.657	(0.026)	-	(0.060)	(0.086)	0.570	0.633	1.203
Road Works Permit Scheme	0.672	0.085	0.756	(0.856)	-	-	(0.856)	(0.100)	0.091	(0.009)
Schools Skills & Learning	0.305	(0.249)	0.057	(0.061)	-	-	(0.061)	(0.004)	0.061	0.057
Street Lighting & Illuminations	0.247	2.722	2.969	-	-	-	-	2.969	0.770	3.739
Trading Standards	0.246	0.030	0.276	(0.003)	-	-	(0.003)	0.273	0.072	0.345
Transport Projects	0.310	0.789	1.099	(0.017)	-	-	(0.017)	1.082	6.008	7.091
Winter Maintenance	(0.067)	0.266	0.199	-	-	-	-	0.199	0.012	0.211
Head of Transport, Policy and Strategy	1.027	0.293	1.320	(0.148)	-	(0.048)	(0.195)	1.125	(0.074)	1.051
City Infrastructure Total	14.888	30.883	45.771	(51.504)	(0.016)	(0.672)	(52.192)	(6.421)	16.254	9.833
Culture & Environment
Bereavement Services	0.668	0.884	1.552	(1.818)	(0.037)	-	(1.856)	(0.303)	0.578	0.274
City Parks	5.611	1.408	7.019	(0.835)	(0.141)	(0.060)	(1.036)	5.983	3.080	9.064
Royal Pavilion & Museums	-	1.879	1.879	-	-	-	-	1.879	3.609	5.488
Seafront Services	0.514	0.661	1.174	(3.312)	-	-	(3.312)	(2.138)	1.939	(0.199)
Sports Facilities	0.256	1.272	1.528	(0.254)	-	-	(0.254)	1.273	2.355	3.628
Venues	2.783	1.308	4.091	(3.827)	-	-	(3.827)	0.264	2.696	2.960
Volks Railway	0.382	0.093	0.475	(0.487)	-	-	(0.487)	(0.012)	0.237	0.225
Vehicle Fleet & Maintenance	-	0.007	0.007	-	-	-	-	0.007	-	0.007
Arts (including Partnership Arrangements)	0.314	2.149	2.463	(0.148)	-	-	(0.148)	2.315	0.609	2.924
Outdoor Events	0.143	0.162	0.305	(0.683)	-	-	(0.683)	(0.377)	0.066	(0.312)
Culture & Environment Total	10.671	9.823	20.494	(11.365)	(0.178)	(0.060)	(11.603)	8.891	15.169	24.060
Environmental Services
City Clean - Refuse & Recycling	10.197	0.672	10.869	(2.469)	(2.381)	-	(4.850)	6.019	0.950	6.969
City Clean - Street Cleansing	7.315	0.981	8.297	(0.042)	-	-	(0.042)	8.254	0.688	8.942
Public Conveniences	0.886	0.616	1.503	(0.070)	-	-	(0.070)	1.433	0.608	2.041
Vehicle Fleet & Maintenance	1.013	3.136	4.149	(0.172)	-	-	(0.172)	3.977	1.280	5.258
Head of City Environmental Management	0.064	0.020	0.084	-	-	-	-	0.084	(0.058)	0.026
Strategy & Projects	1.550	0.226	1.776	(0.796)	-	-	(0.796)	0.979	(0.112)	0.867
Waste Disposal	-	16.843	16.843	(0.847)	(2.065)	(1.550)	(4.462)	12.381	1.204	13.585
Environmental Services Total	21.025	22.495	43.520	(4.396)	(4.446)	(1.550)	(10.393)	33.127	4.561	37.688
Place
Architecture & Design	(0.583)	0.303	(0.280)	-	-	-	-	(0.280)	0.090	(0.190)
Building Control	0.899	0.007	0.906	(1.069)	-	-	(1.069)	(0.163)	0.114	(0.049)
Business Development & Customer Services	0.659	0.016	0.675	(0.011)	-	-	(0.011)	0.663	0.145	0.809
Development Planning	1.543	0.126	1.669	(1.186)	-	-	(1.186)	0.483	0.313	0.796
Economic Development	0.102	-	0.102	-	-	-	-	0.102	(0.102)	-
Economy, Environment & Culture Management	0.065	0.008	0.072	-	-	-	-	0.072	(0.072)	-
Energy & Water Management	0.147	(0.028)	0.119	-	-	-	-	0.119	(0.119)	(0.000)
Head Of Planning	0.222	0.037	0.260	-	-	-	-	0.260	(0.260)	-
Major Projects & Regeneration	0.219	0.009	0.228	-	(0.051)	-	(0.051)	0.177	1.210	1.387
Seafront Services	-	0.142	0.142	(0.142)	-	-	(0.142)	-	0.002	0.002
Sustainability	0.400	0.067	0.468	-	(0.027)	-	(0.027)	0.441	0.080	0.521
Planning Policy, Projects and Heritage	0.522	0.200	0.723	(0.013)	-	-	(0.013)	0.710	0.152	0.862
Place Total	4.196	0.888	5.084	(2.422)	(0.078)	-	(2.500)	2.584	1.554	4.138
Digital Innovation
Facilities & Premises	0.065	0.005	0.070	-	-	-	-	0.070	(0.073)	(0.003)
Information Technology & Digital	5.664	3.555	9.219	(0.105)	(0.075)	-	(0.180)	9.038	(9.365)	(0.327)
Digital Innovation Total	5.728	3.560	9.288	(0.105)	(0.075)	-	(0.180)	9.108	(9.438)	(0.330)
City Operations Total	56.509	67.649	124.158	(69.793)	(4.793)	(2.283)	(76.869)	47.289	28.099	75.388

 

City Operations Capital Investment Programme 2026/27 to 2030/31
	Profiled Payments 2026/27	Profiled Payments 2027/28	Profiled Payments 2028/29	Profiled Payments 2029/30	Profiled Payments 2030/31
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Approved Schemes
Madeira Terraces Regeneration - Project Support	7.905	0.300	-	-	-
Madeira Terraces Bequest Funding	0.030	-	-	-	-
Public Conveniences	0.555	0.640	-	-	-
On-Street and Communal Bin Infrastructure	0.563	0.563	-	-	-
CNF - Improving the Communal Bin System	0.710	-	-	-	-
Procurement of Vehicles	2.500	2.500	2.500	2.500	2.500
Brighton Marina to River Adur Works	8.000	-	-	-	-
Valley Gardens Phase 3 (LTP)	2.557	-	-	-	-
Seafront Heritage Lighting Renewal Programme	0.800	0.653	-	-	-
CNF - Determining Emission Category Citywide Vehicle Fleet	0.030	-	-	-	-
National Highways A27 Diversion Improvement	-	(0.093)	-	-	-
Zebra 2 - Zero Emissions Buses	2.092	-	-	-	-
CCTV Expansion & Upgrade	0.150	0.150	-	-	-
Active Travel A259	5.000	-	-	-	-
Stanmer Pond Restoration & Access Improvement	0.076	-	-	-	-
Parks and Open Spaces Investment	0.129	0.254	0.276	-	-
Royal Pavilion Estate (Phase 1)	0.398	-	-	-	-
Royal Pavilion Estate Development (Phase 2 Gardens)	2.800	2.650	0.098	-	-
Seafront Railings Upgrade	0.280	-	-	-	-
Prince Regent Capital Works	0.500	-	-	-	-
Seafront Facilities Improvements	0.063	-	-	-	-
The Level - Velo Cafe Building	0.557	-	-	-	-
Braypool Pavilion	0.075	0.125	0.900	-	-
Waterhall Sports Ground Pavilion	0.025	0.075	0.100	1.400	-
Happy Valley Pavilion	0.015	0.025	0.220	-	-
Victoria Rec Pavilion	0.100	-	-	-	-
Greenleas Pavilion	0.345	-	-	-	-
Patcham Place Pavilion	-	0.030	0.180	-	-
Preston Park Pavilion	-	0.040	0.360	-	-
East Brighton Park Pavilion	-	0.040	0.360	-	-
Heath Hill Pavilion	-	0.200	-	-	-
Brighton Centre Essential Maintenance	0.200	-	-	-	-
IT&D FIT Programme	0.240	-	-	-	-
IT Equipment for Members	0.040	0.040	0.040	0.040	-
Laptop Refresh 2023-25	0.028	-	-	-	-
IT&D Data Program	0.260	-	-	-	-
IT&D Projects	0.380	-	-	-	-
Customer Digital	1.570	1.550	1.550	1.550	-
Customer Digital Programme - Comms website	0.402	-	-	-	-
Identified Schemes Not Yet approved
New England House - City Deal	3.483	-	-	-	-
Strategic Investment Fund	0.250	0.250	0.250	0.250	0.250
King Alfred Leisure Centre Regeneration Project	30.000	30.000	-	-	-
Local Transport Plan - Capital Grant	3.326	3.390	3.698	5.206	5.300
Pothole Action Fund - Capital Grant	1.974	1.910	1.602	0.094	-
A27 Junction Improvements	-	3.515	2.800	9.311	-
Royal Pavilion Estate Development (Phase 3 Museum)	-	4.000	-	-	-
Stanmer Park - security	0.080	-	-	-	-
IT&D Fund	-	1.000	1.000	1.000	1.000
New Digital Transformation Programme	1.250	1.250	1.250	1.250	-
Total City Operations	79.738	55.057	17.184	22.601	9.050