Your council

Mid Sussex: 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.

Mid Sussex 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 E07000228.

Council website

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 Mid Sussex for 2026–27: £202.22 of a £2,474.26 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: 3 opened (3 academy converter), 4 closed (3 academy converter, 1 closure)

Ashurst Wood Primary School (primary) — closed; reason recorded: academy converter, 30 June 2026
Turners Hill CofE Primary School (primary) — closed; reason recorded: academy converter, 31 October 2025
Twineham CofE Primary School (primary) — closed; reason recorded: closure, 31 August 2026
West Hoathly CofE Primary School (primary) — closed; reason recorded: academy converter, 31 October 2025
Ashurst Wood Primary School (primary) — open; reason recorded: academy converter, 1 July 2026
Turners Hill Church of England Primary School (primary) — open; reason recorded: academy converter, 1 November 2025
West Hoathly CofE Primary School (primary) — open; reason recorded: academy converter, 1 November 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 Mid Sussex reported it to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The same headings, in the same order, for every council in England.

Mid Sussex: budget by service, 2026 to 2027
Service	Budget
Education services	none budgeted
Highways and transport services	−£1.8 million
Children's social care	none budgeted
Adult social care	none budgeted
Public health	£581,000
Housing services (general fund only)	£5.0 million
Cultural and related services	£4.0 million
Environmental and regulatory services	£11.4 million
Planning and development services	£4.1 million
Police services	none budgeted
Fire and rescue services	none budgeted
Central services	£6.7 million
Other services	£331,000
Total service expenditure	£30.4 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).

Mid Sussex in numbers

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

Total population: 161,755 people 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMid-year estimate of the total number of people
Median age: 43 years 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMedian age of people
Gross disposable household income per head: £31,691 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage income per person (£) after taxes and direct benefits
Gross median weekly pay: £714 30 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsGross median weekly pay based on where people live (£)
Children in relative poverty after housing costs: 14.2% 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: 1.9% 2025 · Office for National StatisticsPercentage of people aged 16 to 64 who are claiming unemployment-related benefits
Average house price: £430,777 July 2026 · HM Land RegistryAverage monthly price of a property (£)
Housing affordability ratio (residence-based): 9.9 affordability ratio 1 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsRatio of median house price to median gross annual residence-based earnings
Greenhouse gas emissions: 3.9 tCO2e per capita 2024 · Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGreenhouse gas emissions (tCO2e) per capita
Gigabit capable broadband: 82.5% 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: 175.6 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: 7,635 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

48 seats in 2026. Run by: a coalition or arrangement of Liberal Democrats and independents. Open Council Data (public domain).

Councillors by party: Liberal Democrats 19, Conservative and Unionist 18, Independent / Other 6, Green Party (E&W) 4, Labour Party 1.

Next scheduled council election: 6 May 2027.

All 48 councillors, by ward

Gary Marsh (Conservative and Unionist) — Ardingly, Balcombe & Turners Hill
Jenny Edwards (Green Party (E&W)) — Ardingly, Balcombe & Turners Hill
John Belsey (Conservative and Unionist) — Ashurst Wood & East Grinstead South
Mike Kennedy (Liberal Democrats) — Burgess Hill Dunstall
Mustak Miah (Conservative and Unionist) — Burgess Hill Dunstall
David Eggleton (Liberal Democrats) — Burgess Hill Franklands
Janice Henwood (Independent / Other) — Burgess Hill Franklands
Anne Eves (Green Party (E&W)) — Burgess Hill Leylands
Simon Hicks (Liberal Democrats) — Burgess Hill Leylands
Robert Eggleston (Liberal Democrats) — Burgess Hill Meeds & Hammonds
Tofojjul Hussain (Liberal Democrats) — Burgess Hill Meeds & Hammonds
Christine Cherry (Liberal Democrats) — Burgess Hill St Andrews
Matthew Cornish (Green Party (E&W)) — Burgess Hill St Andrews
Peter Chapman (Independent / Other) — Burgess Hill Victoria
Christopher Phillips (Independent / Other) — Copthorne & Worth
Graham Casella (Conservative and Unionist) — Copthorne & Worth
Ian Gibson (Independent / Other) — Crawley Down
John Hitchcock (Independent / Other) — Crawley Down
Jim Knight (Conservative and Unionist) — Cuckfield, Bolney & Ansty
Malcolm Avery (Conservative and Unionist) — Cuckfield, Bolney & Ansty
Geoff Zeidler (Conservative and Unionist) — Downland Villages
Adam Peacock (Conservative and Unionist) — East Grinstead Ashplats
Margaret Belsey (Conservative and Unionist) — East Grinstead Ashplats
Julie Mockford (Independent / Other) — East Grinstead Baldwins
Dick Sweatman (Conservative and Unionist) — East Grinstead Herontye
Lee Farren (Conservative and Unionist) — East Grinstead Imberhorne
Rex Whittaker (Conservative and Unionist) — East Grinstead Imberhorne
Jacquie Russell (Conservative and Unionist) — East Grinstead Town
John Dabell (Conservative and Unionist) — East Grinstead Town
Eric Prescott (Conservative and Unionist) — Handcross & Pease Pottage
Chris Hobbs (Liberal Democrats) — Hassocks
Kristian Berggreen (Liberal Democrats) — Hassocks
Sue Hatton (Liberal Democrats) — Hassocks
Duncan Pascoe (Liberal Democrats) — Haywards Heath Ashenground
Richard Bates (Liberal Democrats) — Haywards Heath Ashenground
Alison Rees (Liberal Democrats) — Haywards Heath Bentswood & Heath
Anthony Platts (Liberal Democrats) — Haywards Heath Bentswood & Heath
Paul Kenny (Labour Party) — Haywards Heath Franklands
Rod Clarke (Conservative and Unionist) — Haywards Heath Franklands
Abdul Bashar (Liberal Democrats) — Haywards Heath Lucastes & Bolnore
Paul Lucraft (Liberal Democrats) — Haywards Heath Lucastes & Bolnore
Sandy Ellis (Conservative and Unionist) — Haywards Heath North
Lyn Williams (Liberal Democrats) — Hurstpierpoint
Rodney Jackson (Liberal Democrats) — Hurstpierpoint
Anne-Marie Cooke (Liberal Democrats) — Lindfield
Cavan Wood (Liberal Democrats) — Lindfield
Lorraine Carvalho (Conservative and Unionist) — Lindfield Rural & High Weald
Paul Brown (Green Party (E&W)) — Lindfield Rural & High Weald

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.