A major report setting out the current position of East Sussex County Council will be presented to Cabinet next week.
The annual State of the County report, alongside a review of 2025/26, will help guide the council’s priorities and give councillors a detailed picture of the challenges facing the authority.
The reports will look at the needs of residents, the wider policy context, available resources and the performance of council services. They form a key part of the council’s financial and service planning, helping ensure statutory duties, risks and policy ambitions are considered when future decisions are made.
The report highlights the scale of work carried out across East Sussex, including support for 31,000 people through adult social care services and contact with 48,000 children and families through early help and children’s social care.
It also points to work on more than 2,000 miles of roads, two million items loaned through county libraries, and the management of almost a quarter of a million tonnes of waste.
Cabinet members will be told of growing demand for services the council is legally required to provide for vulnerable children and adults. These services now account for three quarters of the council’s budget.
The report says this comes alongside “ongoing escalation in costs right across the council as a result of national and international economic challenges which has significantly increased the expenditure required just to maintain the delivery of the most essential services”.
Looking ahead to 2027/28, the council says financial planning begins from a position of “substantial financial challenge”, after the 2026/27 budget relied on exceptional Government permission to borrow to fund day-to-day services.
The report also calls for continued lobbying of central Government for “funding that accurately reflects the true costs of meeting the needs of East Sussex residents for statutory services”.
Detailed service and budget planning for 2027/28 is expected to be considered in September.
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