Council scorecard
Sevenoaks District Council
- Type
- district
- Population
- 121,000 (ONS mid-year estimate, rounded)
- Political control
- No overall control — Conservative minority (Conservative majority to May 2025)
- Next election
- 6 May 2027 (whole council, all 54 seats)
- Council website
- www.sevenoaks.gov.uk
Scorecard
Methodology published 2026-05-18. Pending cells reflect data collection in progress, not methodology uncertainty — they will populate as the underlying data is gathered.
Refuse collection
Missed bin reports, recycling rates, complaint resolution time
Scored on the two DEFRA-published components — recycling rate and residual household waste, FY 2024-25 final data (England averages: 42.0% / 513.3kg per household) — with the remaining components (missed-bin reports, complaint resolution time, service consistency) pending data ingest. Sevenoaks recycled 36.6% of household waste in 2024-25 — well below the England average of 42.0%, 10th of the 13 Kent waste-collection authorities — with residual waste of 548.3kg per household, the second-highest in Kent (England: 513.3kg). Attribution: Conservative majority administration throughout the period.
as of 2026-07-02 · source
Complaints handling
Volume, response times, LGSCO upheld findings
Small-numbers caveat: district-tier LGSCO investigation counts are tiny (0–4 a year) and a single case can swing the uphold percentage from 0% to 100%, so this score rests on process indicators — upheld volume per 100,000 residents vs the 1.0 district average, remedies offered before the Ombudsman, and compliance with recommendations — across 2025-26 and 2024-25, never on the raw uphold percentage alone. 2025-26 figures precede the LGSCO annual letters (due ~July 2026) and may be revised. 2025-26: 2 investigations, 2 upheld — 1.6 upheld per 100,000 residents vs the 1.0 district average — with no pre-Ombudsman remedy but 100% timely compliance; 2024-25: 1 upheld of 1. Modest volume, adequate process. Attribution: Conservative-led administration throughout (majority to May 2025, minority since).
as of 2026-07-02 · source
FOI response
Average response time, refusal/exemption rate, compliance with 20-day statutory deadline
Score pending — Sevenoaks publishes no FOI performance statistics (checked 2026-07-03; the transparency & FOI section carries procedures and a publication scheme only), so no component of this metric can be scored from public data. What is known: 0 ICO decision notices in the three years to July 2026, and ~681 requests via WhatDoTheyKnow (Oct 2025 snapshot) — among the lowest scrutiny volumes in Kent. A standardised information request for the missing statistics is planned for the next refresh.
as of 2026-07-03
Financial health & budget discipline
Revenue budget variance, capital programme delivery, reserves + Section 114 risk, external auditor VfM judgment, council tax positioning + trajectory vs national
Weighted across the six published components: revenue budget variance 25%, capital programme delivery 20%, reserves & Section 114 risk 20%, external auditor VfM judgement 15%, council tax positioning 10%, council tax trajectory 10%. 2024/25 outturn: £103k (0.5%) revenue overspend, covered from the Budget Stabilisation Reserve; usable reserves solid at £32.9m ≈ 169% of the net revenue budget. Capital delivery was the weakest in Kent — £5.5m spent of a £33.6m budget (84% underspend), with the Bevan Place scheme subsequently removed from the 2025/26 programme and White Oak Residential reprofiled — and Grant Thornton's updated February 2026 report finds a NEW significant weakness in governance (financial reporting, key recommendation KR1), although financial sustainability itself is rated Green with the prior recommendation implemented. Council tax: Band D £258.48, 4th-highest of the 12 Kent districts; 5-yr CAGR 2.82% vs 2.64% nationally. Attribution: Conservative-led administration throughout the 2024/25 year (majority until May 2025, under leaders Thornton then Hogarth).
as of 2026-07-03 · source
Transparency
Open data publication, councillor expenses, contract register, committee paper publication
Fixed-date website audit (2026-07-03) against the Transparency Code checklist: spending-data currency and format, contracts register, councillor allowances, interests, committee papers, senior pay, open data, FOI disclosure log. Items not individually verified this quarter are scored neutrally and flagged. Contracts register, councillor allowances and live committee papers all published, with a current-financial-year 2026/27 spending file live (£500 threshold; cumulative-file format means intra-year currency is unclear). The linked pay-policy statement on the transparency page is stale (2021/22), and there is no open-data portal or FOI disclosure log. Attribution: audit conducted under the Conservative minority administration (Kevin Maskell, from November 2025).
as of 2026-07-03 · source
Planning
Application approval ratios, appeal-overturn rate, determination time vs statutory targets
Scored against the England averages (majors in time 91.0%, non-majors 90.8%, major appeal overturns 3.1%) over the 24 months to March 2026 (speed) and June 2025 (appeal quality), from MHCLG designation-regime tables; the enforcement-trend component (15%) is pending and the three measured components are re-weighted pro rata. The national "in time" measure includes agreed extensions of time. 92.7% of major applications (55 decisions) and 95.2% of non-majors decided in time — both above the England averages — with 5.2% of major decisions overturned at appeal vs 3.1% nationally. Attribution: Conservative-led administration throughout the April 2024 – March 2026 window (majority to May 2025, minority since).
as of 2026-07-02 · source
Education & children's services
SEND/EHCP statutory processing, SEND tribunal LA-loss rate, children's services Ofsted rating, school transport delivery (county + unitary only)
Education and children's services are not a district/borough function. The county council (or, for Medway, the unitary authority) holds this remit.
Safeguarding & LADO
LADO referral handling, multi-agency safeguarding (MASH) timeliness, Section 47 enquiry compliance, independent safeguarding audit findings (county + unitary only)
Safeguarding is the statutory function of the county council or unitary authority via the LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer) and multi-agency safeguarding hub.
Manifesto delivery (Trust)
KLN tracks what the controlling party promised at the most recent election vs what was actually delivered. KEPT/PARTIAL/BROKEN/PENDING/OUT_OF_SCOPE categorisation.
Trust score: 3 categorised public issues (no scoreable pledges yet).
as of 2026-09-29
Top public issues for Sevenoaks residents
This is editorial assessment, not a metric score. Each issue carries an alignment tag — ALIGNED (council in step with residents), MIXED (some action falls short), COUNTERACTING (council against residents on this), or SILENT (no clear position). KLN-curated. Council positions added verbatim where provided. Right-of-reply opens with initial publication.
- 🟡Mixed
Greenbelt + AONB protection
Sevenoaks sits within the Kent Downs AONB + has substantial greenbelt. Residents prize this and resist erosion.
Council position
The Conservative-led administration (a minority since the party lost its majority in May 2025) has historically been protective of greenbelt + AONB; planning decisions favour rural-character protection.
KLN assessment
Statements + historic record supportive; greenbelt-release approval rates + Planning Inspectorate appeal outcomes are the action evidence under Metric 6. Per the "actions, not statements" principle: MIXED until verified.
- 🟢Aligned
Maintain one of Kent's lowest council tax positions
Sevenoaks has historically had one of the lowest district council tax precepts in Kent. Residents value this.
Council position
The Conservative-led administration (minority since May 2025) is committed to maintaining low council tax + sound financial management.
KLN assessment
Aligned with residents' preference. Verification via Metric 4 (Financial health).
- 🟡Mixed
Climate action — Green Party emergence
The Green Party gained 4 seats at 2023, reflecting growing resident demand for stronger climate response.
Council position
The Conservative-led minority cabinet's climate strategy publication + delivery is the test.
KLN assessment
Mixed: Conservative position vs Green Party's electoral momentum suggests residents are split. Specific climate-action delivery is the live question.
News from this council's area
How this scorecard works
Each metric is scored 0-100 and banded A through F. We do NOT aggregate to a single overall ranking — combining unrelated performance areas would mislead. See the methodology page for full details, thresholds, and data sources.
Spot an error or have data we should add for Sevenoaks? editor@kentlocalnews.co.uk.