59Council Meeting
8 January 2026
BUDGET MONITOR 202 5/26 Q3

1. All Committees
The Council’s budget for 2025/26 was £207,383.50 of which £160,000 was
funded by the Precept, the remainder to be taken from reserves as necessary.
At the end of Q3 the Council had spent £115,216.86 which represents 68.6%
of the precept and 72% of the budget.

2. Burial Grounds
At the end of Q3, the Burial Grounds Committee had spent £3,103.73 (34%)
of its budget of £9,120. Rabbit-proof fencing has been ordered for installation
in February 2026 which will take up much of the remaining balance.
Cemetery fees are on course to achieve the £10,000 anticipated in the
budget.

3. EBNP review
The Neighbourhood Plan Review has been caught up in the timetable for
Babergh’s Joint Local Plan and has not progressed to publication stage as
had been hoped. In consequence only £15,166.98 (40.9%) of the budget of
£37,000 has been spent, on consultancy costs.

4. Playing Fields
The Playing Fields Committee has spent £14,040.02 (70.6%) of its budget of
£19,890 by the end of Q3 and should have a sufficient balance, £5,849.98, to
break even by the end of the financial year provided there are no unforeseen
eventualities. A supplementary estimate of up to £15,000 was approved by
Council to pay for rabbit-proof fencing, which will be taken from reserves.

5. RFF (General)
The committee spent £8,214.10 (43.8%) of its budget of £19,890 by the end
of Q3. It has funded litter picking, the emptying of dog and litter bins and the
installation of additional bins. It is probable that most of the budget heads will
be mildly underspent by the year end though this underspend will be much
greater if the £3,000 for a speed indicator device camera is not utilised.

6. RFF (Car Park)
£10,715.17 (68.5%) of the budget was spent by the end of Q3 though this
would have exceeded 70% had an outstanding maintenance bill been
rendered in a timely manner. Toilet cleaning, utility charges and various works
of maintenance are the purposes for which this budget is used and the
balance of £4,934.83 should be sufficient for the charges in Q4.

7. SPF (General)
The SPF committee which is responsible for the Council’s administrative
functions has managed this budget carefully and in spending £47,923 (68%)
by the end of Q3, although a number of budget heads have been exceeded
due to increased charges there remains an adequate balance, £22,536.64, for
the costs of Q4.
This year the budget for council contingencies has been contained within its
allocation. Bank and Building Society interest, which offsets expenditure, has
already exceeded the anticipated income and will provide a windfall for the
committee in Q4.
8. SPF (Grants)
£6,310 of the grant fund of £15,000 for 2025/26 has been awarded in grant
aid by the end of Q3 leaving £8,690 for new applications received before the
year end.
9. Young People Committee
The major expenditure has been the quarterly payment to the Youth Club
contractor (£2,982 per quarter) together with a small grant (£284) in support of
the Toddler Group. £9,230 (38.5%) of the budget of £21,000 has been spent
by the end of Q3, leaving £11,770 for the final quarter of the year. Unless the
committee embarks upon a significant project in Q4, there will be a significant
underspend at the year end.

10. Other income/expenditure
In the course of the financial year to the end of Q3, the Council has received
income which is outside the budget amounting to £425,101.25. This
comprises the precept (£160,000), Neighbourhood CIL (£128,954.51),
cleansing grant (£6,349.20), VAT refund (£22,876.00) and reserves
(106,921.54). The reserves comprise the Babergh CIL award for the Cricket
Club project and the Tennis Club contribution towards the Tennis Club project.

Additionally, there have been payments outside the budget from reserves
amounting to £256,352 comprising payments for the above projects prior to
reimbursement from Babergh CIL (£194,314.75) and Parish CIL awards to
those projects (62,036.25).

The Council’s reserves have been depleted during the current financial year
due to expenditure on the major projects prior to reimbursement from the
Babergh CIL fund. A payment to the Council of £100,000 is anticipated in Q4.

It should also be noted that due to the payments upon the projects, by the end
of Q3 the Council’s VAT payments totalled £59,856.74, much greater than in
previous years. This together with Q4 VAT payments will be reimbursed by
HMRC early in the 2026/27 financial year.

Graham White
Parish Clerk
2 January 2026