Council Meeting 9 January 2025
Budget and Precept 2024/25

The Budget
1. In the autumn cycle of meetings, the standing committees considered their
budget requests for 2025/26. The direction to committees from the Chairman
of the Strategy, Policy and Finance Committee was to review current budgets
carefully and to seek only financial provision for regular expenditure and likely
expenditure pursuant to committee priorities. Apart from SPF Committee, no
committee budgets were to contain contingencies and expenditure should be
limited to stated budget heads. The committees should be mindful that any
increase in the precept would be contained, so as to ensure a saving to
council tax payers. If the total budget exceeded the precept, the balance
would have to be taken from the Council’s unallocated reserves.

2. The Strategy, Policy and Finance Committee met on 25 November 2024 to
review the committee submissions and the documents attached to this report
are the SPF Committee recommendations to Council for the Council’s budget
for 2025/26.

3. Burial Grounds – The majority of the committee’s expenditure is the cost of
grounds maintenance, the budgets for which have by been increased by 4%
to take account of inflation, making a total of £11,024. The tree/boundary
works budget of £4,500 has been retained.

Anticipated cemetery fees offset the expenditure and in 2024/25 £10,000 was
assumed. This sum will be exceeded in 2024/25 due to certain unforeseen
one-off circumstances and assumed income of £10,000 for 2025/26 is
considered prudent.

The total budget has decreased from £10,635 to £9,120, mainly due to the
digitisation project being substantially completed.

4. East Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan – In 2024/25 the Committee had a
budget of £28,000 for neighbourhood plan projects, primarily to provide
funding for the engagement of consultants. As a result of employing
consultants the drafting of the Neighbourhood Plan has progressed well and
an advanced draft copy will be available for Parish Council scrutiny in
February 2025. Once approved the draft will then be subjected to the official
consultation process during 2025/26.

The largest addition to the budget is for Transport Consultants, £16,500, for
the next stage in the process to report to Suffolk County Council and work
through the next stages in delivery of the traffic management proposals. In

this crucial year for the Neighbourhood Plan Review, the budget has been
increased by £9,000 to £38,000.

5. Playing Fields – Savings of £19,310 have been achieved in the budget for
2025/26 as the Pavilion Project, £11,000, has been completed, grounds
maintenance has been reduced by £6,450, based on expenditure in 2024/25
and the play equipment budget has been trimmed by £4,000 having regard to
the likely works of maintenance required in the ensuing year. An additional
£2,000 has been provided for tree surgery. The budget for 2025/26 is £19,890
compared to £39,200 in the previous year.

6. Roads, Footpaths and Flatford Committee (General) – This budget shows
an increase of £3,050 from £15,700 to £18,750. This is due to increased staff
costs (Litter picker) and increased charges from Babergh DC for dog and litter
bin emptying but mainly a new project, £3,000 for the purchase of a Speed
Indicator Device camera.

7. Roads, Footpaths and Flatford Committee (Car Park and Toilets) – This
budget shows a modest increase of £750 to £15,650 as a result of provision
being made for a new toilet cleaning contract, likely increases in the cost of
water and electricity and additional car park maintenance provision based on
current year spend.

8. Strategy Policy and Finance Committee (General) – The administration
budget has performed largely as expected in 2024/25 as it comprises regular
anticipated expenditure.

There have been two major exceptions. Bank interest which offsets
expenditure has been much greater than anticipated a year ago and a more
realistic figure for the ensuing financial year has been raised from £2,000 to
£7,500 which in effect produces a saving of £5,500 on the budget.
Contingencies have exceeded the budget of £5,000 in 2024/25 but that sum is
retained for 2025/26 as committees are encouraged to budget more
particularly and only seek contingency support for unforeseen expenditure.

For 2025/26 provision has been made for the Communications consultant
(£5,700), staff and National Insurance increases (+£4,000 to £42,000), new
office lease (+ £1960 to £9,460) and new website and service contractor
(+£1900). Otherwise, the budget is much the same as previously with just
minor increases when costs are likely to rise by a small amount.

Overall, the budget is increased by £8,360 from £62,100 to £70,460.

9. Strategy, Policy and Finance (Grants) – Budget provision for 2025/26
remains the same as for the previous year at £15,000.

10. Young People – By the commencement of the 2025/26 financial year the
committee will have a contractor in place to provide youth services and the
bulk of its budget, £16,000, will be assigned to that contract. The remaining
5,000 will be split across Toddler Group support, the Under 5 initiative and
publicity. The budget of £21,000 is an increase of £1,000 on the previous year.

11. All Committees – The total budget requested by all committees is
£207,383.50, which is an increase of £1,340 on the budget of 2024/25.
Playing Fields and Burial Grounds committees have both made savings on
the previous year’s budgets whilst Neighbourhood Plan and SPF have made
the largest increases. Reasons for all such changes are set out in the
committee paragraphs above.

Funding for the budget will come primarily from the precept (see below) and if
the recommendation of £160,000 is approved, there will be a decrease in the
council tax requirement of 1.89% due to a 10.2% increase in the council tax
base, and for Band D council tax payers the sum required is £125.20, a
saving of £2.41.

The difference between the budget and the precept will be funded from
income and reserves at no additional cost to the council tax payer.

12. Recommendation

The Strategy, Policy and Finance Committee RECOMMENDS to the Council
the committee budgets set out in the attached spreadsheets and a total
council budget for 2025/26 of £207,383.50.

The Precept

13. The Local Government Finance Act 1992 provides that a precepting authority
may issue a precept to a billing authority which has been calculated pursuant
to Section 49A of the Act.

14. Section 49A (2) provides that the authority must calculate the aggregate of –

(a) The expenditure the authority estimates it will incur in the year in
performing its functions and will charge to a revenue account for the year
in accordance with proper practices.
£207,383.50

(b) Such allowance as the authority estimates will be appropriate for
contingencies in relation to amounts to be charged or credited to a
revenue account for that year in accordance with proper practices.
£5,000

(c) The financial reserves which the authority estimates it will be appropriate
to raise in the year for meeting its estimated future expenditure;
None

(d) Such financial reserves as are sufficient to meet so much of the amount
estimated by the authority to be a revenue deficit for any earlier financial
year as has not already been provided for.
None

15. Under Section 49A (3) the authority must calculate the aggregate of –

(a) The income which it estimates it will accrue to it in the year and which it
will credit to a revenue account for the year in accordance with proper
practices other than income which it estimates will accrue to it in respect of
any precept issued to it, and
Cemetery fees £10,000; Bank Interest £7,500. Total £17,500

(b) The amount of the financial reserves which the authority estimates that it
will use in order to provide for the items mentioned in 2(a) and (b) above.
£34,883.50

16. Section 49A (4) provides that if the aggregate calculated under (2) exceeds
that calculated under (3), the authority must calculate the amount equal to the
difference and the amount so calculated is to be its council tax requirement for
the year.

Aggregate under (2) £212,383.50
Aggregate under (3) £52,383.50
£160,000.00

17. The determination of the precept in accordance with the statutory formula
provides a sum of £160,000 as the council tax requirement for 2025/26. This
amounts to a decrease in the council tax requirement, of 1.89% due to a
10.2% increase in the council tax base, and for Band D council tax payers the
sum required is £125.20, a saving of £2.41.

Employees’ remuneration

18. The SALC payroll service will only add the national pay award and any
incremental advance to employees’ remuneration if there is a specific Council
resolution to that effect. The Council has determined that such resolution

should be considered annually at the time of the Budget and Precept
determination.

Recommendation

19. It is RECOMMENDED that:

(i) The Budget for 2024/25 in the sum of £207,383.50, be approved.

(ii) The Precept for 2024/25 in the sum of £160,000.00 be approved.

(iii) Reserves in the sum of up to £34,883.50 be earmarked to support the
budget once the precept has been exhausted.

(iv) For 2024/25 the Council’s employees be awarded the national pay
award and any incremental advance which may be appropriate to their
grading.

Graham White
Parish Clerk
2 January 2025