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County council · South East

How fast East Sussex County Council pays its suppliers

East Sussex County Council took an average of 8 days to pay suppliers in April to September 2026, quicker than the typical council (14 days), and paid 97% of invoices within 30 days. It is the 19th fastest of 137 councils.

April to September 2026

8 days

average time to pay an invoice

  • Within 30 days
  • 31 to 60 days
  • Over 60 days
Paid within 30 days
97%
Paid in 31 to 60 days
2%
Paid after 60 days
1%
Paid within agreed terms
96%
Rank
19th fastest of 137

Source: payments compliance notice 098396-2026, published 19 October 2026, Find a Tender, Cabinet Office.

Previous notice

7 days average, 97% within 30 days

Oct 2025 to Mar 2026. Notice 037554-2026.

1 days slower in the latest period

East Sussex against every other council

Average days to pay suppliers, April to September 2026: 137 councils, one dot each. Dots past 30 days are councils whose average was longer than the 30 days the law allows for each invoice. 01020304050 30 days: the legal limit for each invoice Average days to pay Vale of Glamorgan: 1 days Hackney: 1.6 days Oxfordshire: 2.1 days Westminster: 2.7 days Salford: 3.4 days Fylde: 4.1 days Bromley: 5 days Stroud: 6.1 days Dartford: 6.1 days Mid Sussex: 6.4 days East Cambridgeshire: 6.8 days Bradford: 7.1 days Breckland: 7.2 days Wolverhampton: 7.4 days Telford and Wrekin: 7.7 days East Devon: 7.8 days Kensington and Chelsea: 7.8 days Hertsmere: 7.9 days Worcestershire: 8 days Harrow: 8 days South Cambridgeshire: 8 days East Sussex: 8 days Folkestone and Hythe: 8.2 days Gateshead: 8.2 days Staffordshire: 8.3 days Havering: 8.4 days West Lancashire: 8.8 days North Yorkshire: 8.8 days Cumberland: 9 days Ceredigion: 9 days Torridge: 9 days Wrexham: 9 days Newcastle upon Tyne: 9.4 days Wokingham: 9.6 days Caerphilly: 9.6 days East Suffolk: 10 days Huntingdonshire: 10 days Sunderland: 10.5 days North Kesteven: 10.8 days Chorley: 11 days Solihull: 11 days Bath and North East Somerset: 11 days Coventry: 11 days Wychavon: 11 days Braintree: 11.4 days Barnsley: 11.5 days Bolton: 11.5 days Torbay: 11.7 days Blackpool: 12 days Hartlepool: 12 days Newport: 12 days Norfolk: 12.2 days Isle of Anglesey: 12.3 days Cambridgeshire: 12.3 days Walsall: 13 days Surrey: 13 days Great Yarmouth: 13 days West Northamptonshire: 13 days Rotherham: 13.1 days Gravesham: 13.2 days Castle Point: 13.4 days Stevenage: 13.4 days County Durham: 13.6 days Rother: 13.8 days North Northamptonshire: 13.9 days Richmond upon Thames: 14 days Hart: 14 days New Forest: 14 days South Norfolk: 14 days Milton Keynes: 14 days Herefordshire: 14.2 days Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole: 14.3 days Hyndburn: 14.3 days Haringey: 14.4 days Warwickshire: 14.4 days Hastings: 14.7 days Worcester: 14.8 days Burnley: 15 days South Oxfordshire: 15 days Peterborough: 15 days City of London: 15 days East Riding of Yorkshire: 15 days Tendring: 15 days Newham: 15 days East Lindsey: 15 days South Holland: 15 days Broadland: 15.1 days Suffolk: 15.2 days Blaenau Gwent: 15.4 days Welwyn Hatfield: 15.4 days South Kesteven: 15.9 days Oxford: 16 days Essex: 16 days Malvern Hills: 16 days Monmouthshire: 16.1 days East Hertfordshire: 16.1 days Redcar and Cleveland: 16.2 days Cambridge: 16.4 days Bedford: 16.4 days Brighton and Hove: 17.1 days Lincolnshire: 17.1 days Cheshire East: 17.7 days East Hampshire: 17.9 days Kirklees: 18 days Cheshire West and Chester: 18 days Westmorland and Furness: 18.3 days Wyre: 18.4 days Hertfordshire: 18.5 days Dacorum: 18.8 days Cornwall: 19 days Tower Hamlets: 19 days Boston: 19 days Liverpool: 19 days Nuneaton and Bedworth: 20 days Nottinghamshire: 20 days Basingstoke and Deane: 20.4 days Pembrokeshire: 21 days Chesterfield: 21.1 days Wigan: 22 days Bristol: 22 days Sefton: 22 days Gwynedd: 22.2 days Halton: 22.3 days Southampton: 24 days Leicestershire: 24.6 days Leicester: 25 days Nottingham: 26 days Sandwell: 29.6 days Enfield: 29.6 days North East Lincolnshire: 30.8 days Bromsgrove: 32 days Warwick: 32 days Redditch: 33 days Vale of White Horse: 33 days Windsor and Maidenhead: 35 days Southwark: 50.5 days West Berkshire: 52 days East Sussex: 8 days
One dot per council that reported all its payments, April to September 2026. Hover or tap a dot for the council; on a phone, swipe the chart sideways.

Councils in South East

#CouncilAverage daysWithin 30 daysPayment bands
1West Berkshire Council 5281%
3Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead 3577%
5Vale of White Horse District Council 3385%
14Southampton City Council 2495.5%
22Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council 20.494.8%
35East Hampshire District Council 17.997.6%
37Brighton and Hove City Council 17.194.3%
44Oxford City Council 1682%
53South Oxfordshire District Council 1592%
62Hastings Borough Council 14.791.1%
69Hart District Council 1493.4%
70New Forest District Council 1496.6%
72Milton Keynes City Council 1499.2%
74Rother District Council 13.897%
78Gravesham Borough Council 13.299.9%
81Surrey County Council 1397%
103Wokingham Borough Council 9.695.3%
114The District Council of Folkestone and Hythe 8.294.3%
119East Sussex County Council 897%
128Mid Sussex District Council 6.4100%
130Dartford Borough Council 6.199.3%
135Oxfordshire County Council 2.199.5%

# is the rank among all 137 councils, where 1 is the slowest. The full league table.

East Sussex's finances

For context. How fast a council pays is a matter of its own processes as well as its money: across England, councils with more to spend per resident do not pay faster.

Spending power, 2026-27
£638 million
£1,129 a resident; typical county council: £1,003
Net budget, 2026-27
£1.08 billion
Net current expenditure, as budgeted
Reserves forecast, 1 April 2026
£62 million
10% of a year's spending power; typical county council: 19%
Emergency government support
2026-27
Exceptional Financial Support agreed by government for these years

Sources: Core spending power 2026-27 and local authority revenue expenditure and financing 2026-27 budget, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government; Exceptional Financial Support lists on GOV.UK. Open Government Licence v3. Reserves are unallocated plus earmarked reserves the council forecast for 1 April 2026.

What the law asks of East Sussex

Pay within 30 days. Under section 68 of the Procurement Act 2023, a council must pay an undisputed invoice within 30 days of receiving it.

Publish every six months. Section 69 requires a payments compliance notice on Find a Tender within 30 days of 31 March and 30 September.

Owed money by a council? Suppliers can claim statutory interest on a late commercial invoice. Work it out with our late payment interest calculator.

Figures are as the council published them and are not audited. Source: payments compliance notices, Find a Tender, Cabinet Office, Open Government Licence v3.

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