Your council

Arun: what’s happening where you live

What the council itself has published on the five things it most shapes for a household: homes, getting about, the bill, the local environment and schools. Each line is quoted from the council’s own document, with the link. This page says what was decided or proposed; it never says whether it was right.

This page is built from official registers only; the council’s own publications have not been read yet, and every line below says so where that leaves a gap.

Arun District Council: Non-metropolitan district (lower tier), England, South East; within the county of WSX. GOV.UK lists it as a district council, within West Sussex County Council. ONS code E07000224.

Council website · Publication scheme

Do it online

The council’s own service pages as listed by GOV.UK’s Local Links Manager (Open Government Licence), refreshed weekly; the same list of everyday services, in the same order, for every council, in GOV.UK’s wording.

Housing

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Transport

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Council tax

Band D set by Arun for 2026–27: £221.04 of a £2,487.24 total bill in the area. MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027 (Open Government Licence).

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Environment

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Education

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Changes to schools in this area recorded by the Department for Education Updated automatically

No school here is currently recorded as proposed to open or close.

In the last twelve months: 2 opened (2 academy converter), 2 closed (2 academy converter)

St Mary's Catholic Primary School (primary) — closed; reason recorded: academy converter, 31 January 2026
St Philip's Catholic Primary School, Arundel (primary) — closed; reason recorded: academy converter, 30 November 2025
St Mary's Catholic Primary School (primary) — open; reason recorded: academy converter, 1 February 2026
St Philip's Catholic Primary School (primary) — open; reason recorded: academy converter, 1 December 2025

Get Information about Schools, DfE’s register of every school in England, refreshed daily (Open Government Licence). The register’s own reason is shown: most closures and openings are a school becoming an academy, which changes who runs it, not whether it is there.

What the council plans to spend, 2026–27

The budget for each service, as Arun reported it to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The same headings, in the same order, for every council in England.

Arun: budget by service, 2026 to 2027
Service	Budget
Education services	none budgeted
Highways and transport services	−£1.2 million
Children's social care	none budgeted
Adult social care	none budgeted
Public health	none budgeted
Housing services (general fund only)	£6.5 million
Cultural and related services	£3.7 million
Environmental and regulatory services	£12.0 million
Planning and development services	£3.7 million
Police services	none budgeted
Fire and rescue services	none budgeted
Central services	£5.4 million
Other services	£1.5 million
Total service expenditure	£31.7 million

Net current expenditure: net of sales, fees and charges; spending funded by the NHS, such as through the Better Care Fund, is excluded.A minus figure means the service’s income is budgeted to be more than its spending. “None budgeted” usually means another body runs that service here. Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Revenue Account Budget 2026 to 2027, individual local authority data (part 1), updated 11 June 2026 (Open Government Licence).

Arun in numbers

Official statistics for the whole council area. Each figure is the latest published, with the period it covers.

Total population: 170,064 people 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMid-year estimate of the total number of people
Median age: 49 years 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMedian age of people
Gross disposable household income per head: £26,424 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage income per person (£) after taxes and direct benefits
Gross median weekly pay: £615 30 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsGross median weekly pay based on where people live (£)
Children in relative poverty after housing costs: 27.3% April 2024 to March 2025 · Department for Work and PensionsPercentage of children aged under 16 living in relative low income families After Housing Costs (AHC)
Claimant Count: 3.6% 2025 · Office for National StatisticsPercentage of people aged 16 to 64 who are claiming unemployment-related benefits
Average house price: £321,460 July 2026 · HM Land RegistryAverage monthly price of a property (£)
Housing affordability ratio (residence-based): 10.1 affordability ratio 1 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsRatio of median house price to median gross annual residence-based earnings
Greenhouse gas emissions: 2.9 tCO2e per capita 2024 · Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGreenhouse gas emissions (tCO2e) per capita
Gigabit capable broadband: 82.3% 1 January 2026 · OfcomPercentage of premises that have coverage from a gigabit-capable service (download speeds of 1,000 Mbps or more)
Public electric vehicle chargers: 166.4 per 100,000 population 1 July 2026 · Department for Transport, sourced from ZapmapPublicly available electric vehicle chargers at all speeds per 100,000 people
Active businesses: 5,870 number of enterprises 2024 · Office for National StatisticsBusinesses with turnover or employment in current year

Gathered by the Office for National Statistics in Explore Local Statistics (Open Government Licence), refreshed daily. Some figures aren’t published for every nation, so the list can be shorter outside England.

Who runs the council

54 seats in 2026. Run by: a coalition or arrangement of Liberal Democrats, Labour and Greens. Open Council Data (public domain).

Councillors by party: Conservative and Unionist 19, Liberal Democrats 14, Labour Party 8, Independent / Other 6, Green Party (E&W) 5, Reform UK 2.

Next scheduled council election: 6 May 2027.

All 54 councillors, by ward

Ash Patel (Conservative and Unionist) — Aldwick East
Trevor Bence (Reform UK) — Aldwick East
Claire Needs (Liberal Democrats) — Aldwick West
Guy Purser (Conservative and Unionist) — Aldwick West
Amelia Worne (Liberal Democrats) — Angmering & Findon
Andy Cooper (Conservative and Unionist) — Angmering & Findon
Paul Bicknell (Conservative and Unionist) — Angmering & Findon
Carol Birch (Green Party (E&W)) — Arundel & Walberton
Mel Penycate (Green Party (E&W)) — Arundel & Walberton
Stephen McAuliffe (Independent / Other) — Arundel & Walberton
Anita Lawrence (Green Party (E&W)) — Barnham
Paul Ayling (Green Party (E&W)) — Barnham
Sue Wallsgrove (Green Party (E&W)) — Barnham
Billy Blanchard-Cooper (Liberal Democrats) — Beach
Bob Woodman (Liberal Democrats) — Beach
Gill Yeates (Liberal Democrats) — Bersted
Keir Greenway (Conservative and Unionist) — Bersted
Martin Lury (Liberal Democrats) — Bersted
James Walsh (Liberal Democrats) — Brookfield
Jill Long (Liberal Democrats) — Brookfield
Freddie Tandy (Labour Party) — Courtwick with Toddington
Maralyn May (Labour Party) — Courtwick with Toddington
Mike Northeast (Labour Party) — Courtwick with Toddington
Paul Kelly (Conservative and Unionist) — East Preston
Philippa Bower (Conservative and Unionist) — East Preston
Richard Bower (Conservative and Unionist) — East Preston
Joan English (Conservative and Unionist) — Felpham East
Thomas Harty (Independent / Other) — Felpham East
Elaine Stainton (Conservative and Unionist) — Felpham West
Gill Madeley (Conservative and Unionist) — Felpham West
Mark Turner (Conservative and Unionist) — Ferring
Roger Elkins (Conservative and Unionist) — Ferring
Jeanette Warr (Liberal Democrats) — Hotham
Steve Goodheart (Independent / Other) — Hotham
Giuliano Pinnelli (Reform UK) — Marine
Matt Stanley (Liberal Democrats) — Marine
Jacky Pendleton (Conservative and Unionist) — Middleton-on-Sea
Shirley Haywood (Independent / Other) — Middleton-on-Sea
Francis Oppler (Liberal Democrats) — Orchard
Kenton Batley (Liberal Democrats) — Orchard
David Huntley (Independent / Other) — Pagham
June Hamilton (Independent / Other) — Pagham
Roger Nash (Labour Party) — Pevensey
Simon McDougall (Labour Party) — Pevensey
Alan Butcher (Labour Party) — River
Christine Wiltshire (Labour Party) — River
George O'Neill (Labour Party) — River
Alison Cooper (Conservative and Unionist) — Rustington East
Shaun Gunner (Conservative and Unionist) — Rustington East
Lesley-Anne Lloyd (Conservative and Unionist) — Rustington West
Lynne Edwards (Conservative and Unionist) — Rustington West
Peggy Partridge (Conservative and Unionist) — Rustington West
Amanda Worne (Liberal Democrats) — Yapton
Henry Jones (Liberal Democrats) — Yapton

Each councillor’s register of interests is on the council’s own website; we have not yet located the page. Councillors from Open Council Data as recorded after the May 2026 elections; a by-election since then may have changed one seat. Attendance and allowances are not shown.

This council’s meeting papers are not yet read automatically, so decisions and motions are not listed here; they are on the council’s website.

Write to your councillors → WriteToThem (mySociety) finds them from your postcode; nothing is sent through this site.

Cite this page

Harvard style. Every figure on the page also names its original source, which is usually the better thing to cite.

Every council page has the same five headings in the same order. Sources are the council’s own publications and official statistics. Council list: mySociety, UK Local Authorities (CC BY 4.0) and WhatDoTheyKnow authorities (CC BY-SA 4.0); council websites, tiers and service links: GOV.UK (Open Government Licence); codes: ONS Code History Database (Open Government Licence). Corrections: hello@whatsittome.org.