Observer column 29 January 2026

Cllr Darren Mackenzie, lead councillor for finance, risk and ICT at Hastings Borough Council 

Since I took on the role of lead councillor for finance, I’ve been working closely with officers from across the council to get us into a stable financial position. I am proud to say that the proposed budget for 2026-27 builds on the balanced budget of last year and forecasts a small surplus by the end of the financial year. 

This is thanks to the continued hard work of officers to find savings and efficiencies, across all services areas. The financial settlement from the government for 2026-27 is slightly increased on previous years, but without the savings and efficiencies made by officers, this would not have led to a balanced budget.  

We are proposing to increase the Hastings Borough Council element of council tax by 2.99%. This is because without this increase we cannot set a balanced budget and the government has told us that if we do not do everything within our power to increase income, including the money we bring in through council tax each year, they will not agree to further financial support if we need it in future years. We know this will be difficult for some residents. The increase is less than £10 for a band D property. We continue to offer council tax reduction to residents who need it and those who are unable to pay the full amount. 

East Sussex County Council, Sussex Police, the Police and Crime Commissioner and East Sussex Fire and Rescue are all setting their budgets at the moment, and they will soon let us know about increases to their element of council tax, which will make up the full change and increase which will come into effect from April. 

We are working closely with colleagues from other councils as we move towards local government reorganisation, and we are continuing to look at where we can share services which will bring more savings and resource in areas where we have struggled to recruit in the past. 

We are now asking for your feedback on the proposed budget and Corporate Plan update before it is discussed at Cabinet and Full Council in February. We have been working towards a new Corporate Plan since April 2025, with five key priorities – achieving financial stability, tackling the housing crisis, addressing inequality and poverty, tackling the climate and nature crisis and encouraging pride in place. 

Over the last year, we have made good progress on these priorities, and we continue to work towards achieving them – the work done on our finances means we have already achieved the first one. 

There is more detail on what has been done, and what is being done on our Corporate Plan update page, where you can also read full details on the budget and our proposals. 

We really welcome your comments, please either complete the online form, or email us consultation@hastings.gov.uk so we can take your thoughts into account – we will be discussing this at Cabinet on Monday 2 February, before Full Council meets on Wednesday 11 February to debate and agree the budget.