What Rother District Council does

Rother District Council is a UK local government authority established in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, headquartered at Town Hall on London Road in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex. It serves the Rother District across approximately 35 towns and villages including Battle, Bexhill-on-Sea, and Rye, delivering statutory local government services to all residents, households, and businesses within its boundary. Service categories span council tax and benefits administration; planning and building control; waste collection, recycling, and street cleansing; environmental health; licensing of taxis and private hire, HMOs, alcohol and entertainment premises, caravan sites, and animal-related activities; plus street naming and numbering under the council's exclusive jurisdiction.

The council operates a multi-channel service delivery model combining the My Rother self-service portal (powered by Granicus's GovService platform), an AI-powered chatbot assistant called Aiimee (built on Microsoft Azure Web Chat), phone support with an internal target of answering 80% of calls within two minutes, three physical Community Help Points at Battle, Bexhill, and Rye with a 15-minute in-person assistance SLA, and video-call Virtual Community Hubs at partner sites including Rye Foodbank and The Pelham. The technology stack also uses Microsoft Clarity and Google Analytics for web analytics, and leverages Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRN) via the FindMyNearest service to deliver address-specific information. Underlying statutory data assets include the Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG), which feeds GeoPlace's National Land and Property Gazetteer, alongside public registers maintained for food businesses, contaminated land, environmental permits, HMOs, cooling towers, hackney carriages, private hire vehicles, caravan sites, and licensed premises.

Rother District Council is funded through council tax, central government grants, and statutory locally retained fees rather than commercial revenue. Disclosed fees include HMO initial application at £1,163, HMO renewal at £830 annually, DBS checks for taxi licensing at £104, and per-unit pricing for street naming of £57–£104 per unit. Waste collection is outsourced to Biffa; waste disposal is handled by Veolia at the Newhaven Energy Recovery Facility (210,000 tonnes/year capacity); and recyclate processing is performed by Viridor at the Crayford Materials Recycling Facility. The entity is a public body without private shareholders, accountable to elected councillors, and is not subject to private-equity ownership, M&A, or capital raising activity.

Name

Rother District Council

Legal name

Rother District Council

Website

https://rother.gov.uk

Company type

Public

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Rother District Council is a UK local government authority established in 1974 that provides statutory services — including council tax, planning, waste collection, environmental health, and licensing — to residents, households, and businesses across Rother District in East Sussex.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Bexhill

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Rother District Council is a UK local government authority providing statutory services to residents and businesses in the Rother District of East Sussex. Core services include council tax administration, housing benefits, waste collection and recycling, planning and building control, environmental health, street naming and numbering, HMO licensing, taxi and private hire licensing, and various other permits and licences. The council operates the My Rother online self-service portal and the Aiimee AI-powered digital assistant to enable residents to access services and make payments online.

Product overview

Rother District Council provides a comprehensive suite of digital and administrative services for residents of East Sussex. The digital offering centres on the My Rother self-service portal (powered by Granicus) and the Aiimee AI chatbot for automated assistance. Core services span council tax and benefits administration, rubbish and recycling collection (operated by Biffa), planning and building control, taxi and private hire licensing, environmental health, and various licences and permits. The council also maintains statutory responsibilities for street naming and numbering, and administers housing in multiple occupation licensing. All services are accessible through the council's website and My Rother portal, with customer support available via phone, email, and in-person at the Town Hall.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Aiimee - Rother Digital Assistant: AI-powered digital assistant for answering resident queries on the council website.

Products and services

• My Rother Online Portal Online self-service portal enabling residents to report issues (missed bins, fly tipping, potholes), make payments (council tax, business rates, parking fines), apply for services (benefits, housing, planning), and check information (bin days, planning applications). Supplied by Granicus.
• Aiimee - Rother Digital Assistant AI-powered chatbot digital assistant that allows residents to ask questions and get automated assistance with council services 24/7. Built on Azure Web Chat.
• Rubbish and Recycling Collection Domestic waste collection service including refuse, recycling, garden waste, household food waste, and bulky waste. The recycling service is operated by contractor Biffa.
• Planning and Building Control Planning application submission, viewing, and decision tracking; pre-application advice; building control inspections; enforcement; heritage and natural environment protection; local land charges; and street naming and numbering services.
• Council Tax and Benefits Online Online service for council tax payments, reduction schemes, housing benefits, and revenues and benefits account management.
• Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Licensing service for hackney carriages, private hire vehicles, dual drivers, and private hire operators including compliance testing, CCTV requirements, and safeguarding training.
• Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) Licensing Mandatory licensing service for privately rented HMOs occupied by five or more people, including property inspections, compliance monitoring, and public register maintenance.
• Environmental Health Services Public health services including food safety inspections, contaminated land assessment, environmental permitting, air quality monitoring, public registers, and dog control.
• Street Naming and Numbering Statutory addressing service for new developments and existing properties, including street naming, property numbering, and address confirmation. The council maintains the Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG).
• Licences and Permits Various licensing services including alcohol and entertainment licensing, animal licensing, caravan and camping site licensing, gambling and lotteries, and other permits (street trading, scrap metal dealers, sex establishments, skin piercing).
• Report It Service Online reporting system for environmental issues including missed bins, fly tipping, litter, neighbourhood problems, and pothole/road repairs.
• Pay It Service Online payment portal for council tax, business rates, parking fines, planning payments, and other council fees.
• Apply For It Service Online application portal for council tax reduction, housing benefit, crisis resilience housing payments, and relief schemes.
• Find My Nearest Location-based service that provides bin collection dates, councillors, planning applications, and other local information based on postcode or address. Uses Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN).

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and strategic.

• Royal MailcoreOthersRoyal Mail is responsible for the allocation of postcodes. RDC sends official address confirmations to Royal Mail and postcodes are allocated only after RDC confirms official addresses. Postcode requests currently take up to 5 weeks to process.
• GeoPlacecoreOthersGeoPlace maintains the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG). RDC's Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) feeds into the NLPG via Data Transfer Protocol File, ensuring national address consistency.
• East Sussex County CouncilcoreOthersHighway Authority for Rother District responsible for street/highway adoption. RDC works with ESCC Transport and Environment for road naming matters. ESCC waste disposal contractor Veolia operates the Newhaven Energy Recovery Facility.
• Emergency Services (Police, Fire, Ambulance)coreOthersSussex Police, East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, and ambulance services are notified of all address changes and street naming decisions. Emergency services require accurate addressing for operational effectiveness.
• GranicuscoreTechnology or IntegrationGranicus provides the My Rother self-service portal used for service requests, applications, payments, and account management. Council's cookie policy references Granicus's GovService cookie statement.
• BiffacoreOthersBiffa is the new contractor for waste collection, recycling, and street cleansing services in Rother District. Glass recycling no longer requires separate containers under the new contract.
• VeoliacoreOthersEast Sussex County Council's waste disposal contractor operating the Newhaven Energy Recovery Facility (processes 210,000 tonnes waste per year, generates 16MW electricity), composting facility at Isfield, and provides educational facility tours for schools.
• ViridorstrategicTechnology or IntegrationViridor operates the Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) in Crayford where Rother's mixed recycling is processed. Materials are automatically separated and baled for commercial markets.
• Animal Wardens LtdcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerContractor providing stray dog seizure, kennelling, and rehoming services. Also handles lost dog registration. Same service provided for Hastings and Wealden Councils.
• Microsoft (Azure)coreTechnology or IntegrationAzure Web Chat platform powers the Aiimee digital assistant. Azure session affinity cookies ensure consistent service delivery. Website hosted on Azure infrastructure.
• Blue Lamp TruststrategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerApproved training provider for taxi driver safeguarding and disability awareness training, required for new applications from April 2024 and renewals from October 2024.
• Learning Curve GroupstrategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlternative approved training provider for taxi driver safeguarding (children from sexual exploitation) and disability awareness training.
• Green PennystrategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlternative approved training provider for taxi driver safeguarding and disability awareness training.
• District Valuer & Valuation Officer (VOA)coreOthersNotified of all street and property naming changes by RDC for council tax and business rates valuation purposes.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Horsham District Council: West Sussex district council of comparable rural-suburban character, delivering the standard statutory service portfolio. Useful regional comparator for digital service delivery benchmarks.
• Folkestone & Hythe District Council: Kent coastal district council with a similar rural/coastal demographic profile and statutory service mix, including comparable licensing and waste management functions.
• Maidstone Borough Council: Larger Kent borough council providing the same statutory portfolio (planning, licensing, waste, council tax). Useful peer for benchmarking service delivery scale and digital maturity.
• Tunbridge Wells Borough Council: Kent-based borough council of comparable size delivering the same statutory local authority services. Direct functional comparator in a different but adjacent county.

Direct peers

• Wealden District Council: Neighbouring East Sussex district council of comparable size, providing the same statutory portfolio (planning, waste, licensing, council tax, environmental health) to a similarly mixed rural/coastal population. The most directly comparable peer authority in the same county.
• Lewes District Council: East Sussex council jointly administered with Eastbourne Borough Council, delivering the standard district-level statutory services including planning, licensing, waste, and environmental health to a comparable resident base.
• Eastbourne Borough Council: East Sussex borough council operating under a shared management arrangement with Lewes, providing the same statutory portfolio. Comparable in function and geographic proximity to Rother.
• Hastings Borough Council: Borough council in East Sussex operating the same statutory local government functions and sharing the Animal Wardens Ltd contractor for stray dog services. Closely comparable scale and service mix.

Broad incumbents

• Surrey County Council: Larger upper-tier county authority in a neighbouring region, providing the broader statutory framework (highways, social care, strategic planning) within which district councils like Rother operate. Useful benchmark for upper-tier service delivery scale.
• East Sussex County Council: Upper-tier county authority responsible for highways, waste disposal (via Veolia at Newhaven), and strategic services across East Sussex including Rother. Acts as a statutory partner to Rother and represents the broader public-sector ecosystem in which the district council operates.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/RotherDC

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rother District Council