Claimant rate: highest and lowest councils in South East (August 2026)

Slough had the highest claimant rate of South East’s 64 councils in August 2026, at 5.9%.

Hart and South Oxfordshire had the joint lowest, at 1.8%. The middle council, Bracknell Forest, had 2.8%.

Map of claimant rate across the UK

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Claimant rate for every council in South East, highest first. Councils without a figure are listed last with the reason.
Rank	Council	Value
1	Slough	5.9%
2	Thanet	5.4%
3	Hastings	5.0%
4	Eastbourne	4.9%
5	Crawley	4.6%
6	Portsmouth	4.5%
=7	Brighton and Hove	4.3%
=7	Gravesham	4.3%
=7	Reading	4.3%
=10	Medway	4.2%
=10	Southampton	4.2%
12	Milton Keynes	4.1%
13	Folkestone and Hythe	3.8%
14	Arun	3.7%
=15	Gosport	3.6%
=15	Isle of Wight	3.6%
=15	Spelthorne	3.6%
=18	Lewes	3.5%
=18	Maidstone	3.5%
=18	Swale	3.5%
=21	Dartford	3.3%
=21	Dover	3.3%
=21	Havant	3.3%
=21	Worthing	3.3%
=25	Canterbury	3.2%
=25	Chichester	3.2%
=25	Rother	3.2%
28	Adur	3.1%
=29	Buckinghamshire	3.0%
=29	Rushmoor	3.0%
31	Ashford	2.9%
32	Bracknell Forest	2.8%
=33	Basingstoke and Deane	2.7%
=33	Woking	2.7%
=35	Oxford	2.6%
=35	Runnymede	2.6%
=37	Elmbridge	2.5%
=37	Tandridge	2.5%
=37	Tonbridge and Malling	2.5%
=37	Tunbridge Wells	2.5%
=37	Windsor and Maidenhead	2.5%
=42	Wealden	2.4%
=42	West Berkshire	2.4%
=44	Cherwell	2.3%
=44	Eastleigh	2.3%
=44	New Forest	2.3%
=44	Sevenoaks	2.3%
=44	Surrey Heath	2.3%
49	Reigate and Banstead	2.2%
=50	East Hampshire	2.1%
=50	Epsom and Ewell	2.1%
=50	Mid Sussex	2.1%
=50	Winchester	2.1%
=54	Fareham	2.0%
=54	Guildford	2.0%
=54	Horsham	2.0%
=54	Test Valley	2.0%
=54	Vale of White Horse	2.0%
=54	Waverley	2.0%
=54	Wokingham	2.0%
=61	Mole Valley	1.9%
=61	West Oxfordshire	1.9%
=63	Hart	1.8%
=63	South Oxfordshire	1.8%

Source and method · See it on the map