Council Meeting 13 January 2022
Budget Monitor 2021/22 Q3

1. The Council’s budget for 2021/22 was set at £176,916.93. A supplementary
estimate of £85,000 was made from reserves to RFF Committee bringing the total
budget for the financial year to £261,916.93.

2. At the end of Q3, £131,924.99 had been utilised leaving a balance of £129,991.94
for the remainder of the financial year.

3. Roads, Footpaths and Flatford Committee (General
So far in this financial year the committee has only spent the regular payments for
litter picking and the annual payment for dog bin and litter bin emptying totalling
£6,894.50 of its budget of £26,650, leaving £19,755.50 for the remainder of the
financial year. Ten budget heads have not been utilised and a substantial
underspend for the year is anticipated.

4. Roads, Footpaths and Flatford Committee (Car Park)
The car park works have been completed and £65,217.52 (excluding VAT) has
been spent so far. There will be additional legal costs and settlement of the
landlord’s professional costs in Q4. There will also need to be a virement to
Strategy, Policy and Finance Committee of the VAT paid on car park matters, which
the latter has borne temporarily. This is likely to be in the region of £12-15,000,
which will be within budget as the supplementary estimate was configured on gross
costs including VAT.

The remainder of the budget is progressing satisfactorily and whilst £33,719.12
remains available, after the VAT virement approximately £18-20,000 will be left for
the committee’s regular and periodic payments. A small understand is anticipated at
the year end.

5. Playing Fields Committee
The major projects of this financial year, the outdoor gym and the CCTV installation
have utilised two thirds of the committee’s budget of £30,363. This would have been
more but for a grant of £2,600 from Babergh DC towards the costs of the outdoor
gym. The remaining balance of £11,728.99 will be sufficient for the regular
payments in Q4, together with any works required to the playground equipment
following the annual safety surveys.

6. Burial Grounds Committee
The committee has undertaken tree works and boundary maintenance which
together slightly exceed the budget allocations and similarly the cost of repairs to
the cemetery machinery. However this is not a matter of concern as the cemetery
fees have exceeded the provision made for them of £8,250 by £2,280 by the end of
Q3 which will probably rise to around £3,500-£4,000 by the end of Q4.

The remaining balance of £8,493.56 includes £3,000 for the on-off project of repairs
to the cemetery machinery shed roof and if these works are not completed in Q4,
the allocation will be lost.

7. Neighbourhood Plan Committee
The Council is aware of the difficulties the committee has experienced in
commissioning projects during the pandemic and only £1,807 has been spend from
the EBNP Review budget of £20,000 and there has been no expenditure on the
EBNP projects budget of £19,000. A transportation study has now been
commissioned which will cost around £15,000 in Q4.

8. Strategy, Policy and Finance Committee (Grants)
Requests for grant aid have been few and only £1,300 has been awarded from a
budget of £13,260. If the trend continues in Q4, this budget will be substantially
underspent at the year end.

9. Strategy, Policy and Finance Committee (General)
This housekeeping budget is largely made up of budget heads for regular payments
and is progressing satisfactorily. The fact that only £7,141.27 of a budget of £34,565
remains is due entirely to the VAT on the car park works which this committee has
paid and will be reimbursed by RFF Committee once all the payments have been
made.

Graham White
Parish Clerk
6 January 2022