Struggling councils get £150m exceptional funding

Councils in the South East will receive millions of pounds in support to help them balance their books amid financial struggles.

More than £150m in Exceptional Funding Support (EFS) has been agreed in principle by the government to help East Sussex, Brighton & Hove, Medway, Woking and Worthing councils.

The agreements allow councils to use capital funding usually reserved for longer-term projects to instead cover day-to-day costs, giving them short-term financial flexibility.

The funding was needed for a variety of reasons, including ageing populations, emergency accommodation and tackling homelessness, spokespeople for the councils said.

A spokesperson said the funds were essential for the council to set a balanced budget, but the funding will be "raised through borrowing".

The council also said it had made £160m in service cuts since 2010 but added: "The actions taken to date are not enough because more people than ever need our services and the costs of providing them have risen sharply.

"The help in the short term will increase repayments in years ahead and therefore increase the financial pressure on the council and local taxpayers."

Under the plans, announced by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Woking will receive £58.1m in support, while Brighton & Hove will get £15m, Medway £10.1m and Worthing £5m.

Medway and Worthing councils also agreed to increase the support it will receive in the current financial year, rising to £28.4m and £4.75m respectively.

'Critical for councils'

In a letter to Woking Borough Council, local government minister Alison McGovern said the government agreed with the council that "there is no reasonable means by which the council can meet all its debt liabilities from its own resources".

As of April 2025, the council owed £2.16bn and was found to have the highest amount of local government debt per person in the UK.

Woking Borough Council leader Ann-Marie Barker said: "This is another important step in our long‑term recovery, giving us the financial certainty we need to reduce the council's debt and put Woking on a more sustainable footing."

The authority also said it would be borrowing to cover the £5m funding, which it said was needed due to a "continuing surge of local people becoming homeless".

A council spokesperson added that it expected to spend as much as 30% of its budget on helping people who would otherwise be homeless.

Brighton & Hove City Council said the funding would help manage the "unprecedented financial pressures we face".

The funding would be focused on addressing emergency and temporary accommodation costs, it added.

Papers from Medway Council, which is to set its annual budget on Wednesday, said it had requested flexibility to increase council tax at about the 5% limit at which a referendum would usually be required.

In a statement on the funding, McGovern said: "The support we're announcing is critical for the councils, and we are doing everything we can to ensure councils can balance the books, including by making £78bn available through the first multi-year settlement in a decade."

The majority of pupils across Sussex have been offered their first-choice secondary school for September, according to council figures.

In Brighton and Hove, more than 83% of families received an offer for their first choice schools.

In West Sussex, 97% of applicants were offered one of their three preferences, while in East Sussex 85% of students got into their first choice school.

Both counties' figures were marginally up on last year.

West Sussex County Council (WSCC) also worked closely with schools to ensure that every child in the county who applied for a secondary school place this year has been offered one.

Councillor Jacquie Russell, cabinet member for children, young people and learning, said: "I am pleased that we have once again been able to offer the vast majority of families one of their three preferences."

'Work with families'

Only five pupils in Birghton and Hove were not offered a place at one of their preferred schools, the local council said.

Deputy leader Jacob Taylor said that he was aware from speaking to head teachers prior that school open days were much busier this year as parents looked at more options than usual.

Russell said: "We will always work with families to ensure a suitable school placement can be found."

WSCC said admissions officers were on hand to speak to parents, carers and pupils should they want to discuss their offer and the options available to them, such as an independent admission appeal.

Parents in Brighton and Hove can also appeal a school place decision if they are unhappy with their offer, with the submission deadline being 27 March.

Brighton & Hove City Council recommends that parents should still accept the place their child has been offered, as it will not affect their appeal and will guarantee their child a place if the appeal is unsuccessful.

More than 2,000 people have signed a petition in an attempt to prevent the closure of a day centre for people with disabilities in East Sussex.

In Brighton & Hove City Council's annual budget, it is proposing to close Wellington House Day Centre, to save £400,000.

Parent and carer Susan Starr said the recommendation "made her feel uneasy" and "prayed the council would not stop the service".

Mitchie Alexander, the authority's cabinet member for communities, equalities, public health and adult social care, said: "We are looking at changes to how we deliver some of our day support services for adults."

He said it was to ensure "we continue to provide people with high-quality support" while remaining sustainable for the future.

According to the annual budget, should the proposals be approved, Wellington House would be "repurposed or create a capital receipt".

Starr, along with carers, parents and union members, protested outside Hove Town Hall before the council's annual budget meeting on 26 February.

She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): "My daughter, Becky, comes home three nights a week.

"She won't leave the house unless she's going to Wellington House."

Corinna Edwards-Colledge, Brighton & Hove Unison union member, said the closure would be a "disaster".

"These 21 people would not have a service in the community," she said.

She criticised the council's proposed cost-cutting as a "false economy".

"People who use the service are likely to end up in residential care which could cost the council hundreds of thousands of pounds," she added.

Other parents and carers have told the LDRS there were no "realistic alternatives" for them.

Sue Holder, whose autistic son has complex needs including epilepsy, said: "If Wellington House closed, it would be a total disaster to my son and our family life."

The council said it would be running a consultation with service users, families and carers, and Wellington House staff.

Alexander said: "Only if we are completely satisfied that every single service user can be provided for locally, and with the same or a higher level of day care provision, will we then move ahead and re-commission the provision for all 21 adults who currently attend Wellington House."