Each year, we at the Community Council calculate the spending needed for the year ahead. The Community Council have some statutory responsibilities and also undertakes work in the community for which budget is allocated.

We submit our total budget to Flintshire County Council, who calculate how much each household has to contribute, based on Council Tax Bandings. We are given the total number of Band-D equivalent households as a guide.

For the year 2020/2021, there are 2012.19 houses in the Ward (including Penyffordd, Pen-y-mynydd and Dobshill).

The expected cost of the Community Council budget for a Band-D property is £48.89 for the year. This represents approximately 3% of the Council Tax bill from Flintshire County Council (based on Band D figures).

Local Control

There are significant portions of the budget over which the Community Council have no real control or choice. This chart illustrates where there is local control and the descriptions below provide the detail of what the budget includes:

What the Budget Includes

Parks and Open Spaces – 14% of Budget

Most of Parks and Open Space budget is for maintenance and repairs on gardens, bus shelters, playing fields, bulb planting, benches, litter equipment and CCTV. We have an environment improvement fund of £4,000 to invest in programmes such as the planters, circular walks, tree planting and other initiatives. We are aware that in places, the play areas need to have groundworks to make them accessible all year round.

Staff, Admin and Office Costs – 37% of Budget

We employ two part time members of staff. Our Clerk, Sarah Hughes, is the engine room of the Council. She is responsible for administration and finance. Glyn Davies is our Streetscene Operative and can be seen all over the villages, enthusiastically tidying and clearing up litter. As with all employees, we have to pay National Insurance, pension contributions and pay for training, specialist clothing and equipment as needed.

This year, in accordance with Welsh Government policy, we have to budget for a Members Allowance for each member of the Council. Each of the 13 members of the Council are volunteers, and they can individually elect not to take the statutory payment, but the Council are required to budget for all.

The admin costs also cover insurance, audit and legal fees, website maintenance, email addresses and an external data officer for GDPR.

We have budget allowance for the printing of a newsletter (the design work is done voluntarily) and community awards.

Street and Christmas Lighting – 17% of Budget

We are responsible for the maintenance of some of the street lights in the ward. The budget covers electricity, testing, repairs and maintenance. There is a budget of £8,000 for Christmas trees and Christmas lighting. This is enough for the purchase of trees, some additional lights and for the storage, maintenance and installation of our existing Christmas lighting stock.

Highways and Footpaths – 2% of Budget

The Community Council are not responsible for highways or footpaths, on the whole, they are the responsibility of the Local Authority. However, there is a small budget for salt bins and noticeboards. We have also allocated £2,000 in the budget for the maintenance or improvement of the most used ‘cut through’ footpaths in the village.

Grants – 3% of Budget

Each year, in November, we invite local organisations to apply for a grant from the Community. This £3,300 is allocated across a wide range of organisations each year. We also contribute to the local Citizens Advice Bureau from this fund.

Community Investment – 17% of Budget

Everyone on the Community Council gives up their time because we care about the community and we want to make a positive difference. Much of what we do is overseeing and managing existing facilities, campaigning or corresponding on behalf of the village on serious issues, such as buses, community facilities and planning applications.

Included in this part of the budget is an allowance of £4,000, under the heading Investing in Youth, typically this is used to match-fund extra money to improve play areas. We already have the funds in place for Melwood Close improvements and a smaller fund for improvements at Dobshill and West View. We will be communicated the results of our questionnaire and sharing the proposals in the coming months.

We have Play Leadership budget to part-fund play leaders at the Millstone during the summer holidays and we plan to do the same this year.

We have a £7,500 Community Improvement fund to enable the improvement of area. We have an Infrastructure Group who are looking at the various projects which would benefit from investment.

Community Buildings – 17% of Budget

There are two community buildings which do or will provide facilities for every part of our community.

The War Memorial Institute is owned by the community and managed by a dedicated committee of volunteers. Each year, the community council pay a grant of £5,000 towards its upkeep. This year the grant is being included in the funding of the improvement works currently underway. Council meetings are held every month in the Committee Room of the Institute.

There are advanced plans for the existing Youth Club building, housed in the original Ysgol Penyffordd school (currently the Youth Club), to be taken over from Flintshire County Council as a Community Asset Transfer. There is a growing team of volunteers working on a wide range of uses, including the Scouts, to improve community engagement across all ages. The business plan for the Community Hwb includes a grant from the Community Council for base funded for overheads, of £15,000 per year. The aim is for those costs to become increasingly self-funded once the project is established, but for the first three years, the business plan assumes that the Community Council will provide this level of support.

How the Precept is Calculated

If you are interested in how the precept is calculated, here is a brief explanation.
The total forecast expenditure for the Community Council is £127,965. In addition to this, we have to allow for having a £15,000 buffer in the bank, so the total we need to raise is £142,965. By the end of the financial year, in April, we do not expect to have spent everything that was budgeted for and so we will have too much money in the bank (£41,091). This is taken away from the total we need to raise, leaving a balance of £98,374. That balance is divided by the number of Band-D households, 2012.19, to calculate the cost per Band-D property: £48.89.

Once the budget figure is set, Flintshire County Council calculate the proportion of the Band D rate for other property bands. This graph illustrates the percentage of properties in Penyffordd Ward in each band, alongside the average across Flintshire:

Graph showing the distribution of houses across different Council Tax bands

Some Town and Community Council boundary changes took effect in 2016 but were not applied to the calculations until this year 2020/21.

As a result of these changes, 28 properties moved from Penyffordd into the revised community boundary of Broughton and Bretton. 8 properties have moved into the revised Penyffordd boundary from Higher Kinnerton, 10 properties have moved from Hope to the revised boundary of Penyffordd and 2 properties have moved into the revised boundary of Penyffordd from Leeswood.

In other words, Penyffordd have gained 20 properties but lost 28 resulting in a net loss of 8 properties.

2020/21 Community Council Budget Overview

Local Control

What the Budget Includes

How the Precept is Calculated