Dear Resident

Further to recent information being circulated it was considered as a council that this should be followed up with details of how the precept was agreed upon and to enable you to see where the expenditure will be for the council in 2022/23.

The council started to review the 2022/23 budget in December 2021 and finalised this in January 2022 after lengthy discussions, consideration and amendments. Once approved this precept request was submitted to Flintshire County Council by the required date of 21st January 2022.

It was requested when the council approved the budget to have this as a recorded vote and below is an extract from the January 2022 meeting:

RESOLVED: the Council’s precept requirement for 2022/23 be approved as £116,851 (one hundred and sixteen thousand, eight hundred and fifty one pounds) and that Flintshire County Council be informed accordingly. This equates to the Band D sum of £53.82p per year, which is an increase of £4.93 per year (10.08%) based on a Band D property. The Chairman and Clerk be authorised to sign the declaration of precept requirement for submission to Flintshire County Council.

Recorded Vote - In favour: Cllrs Rothero, Priddin, Walker, Williams, Bestwick, Ransome. Challinor & Blackman. Objection: Cllr Ibbotson.

Whilst it is certainly appreciated that 10.08% appears a high increase and in fact any increase may affect some of our residents, for clarification, in monetary terms for a Band ‘D’ property this will equate to an increase of £4.93p per year, so if you were paying your council tax over 12 months this will be an increase of £0.41p per month.

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 2022/2023, there are 2171 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 £53.82 for the year. This represents approximately 3% of the Council Tax bill from Flintshire County Council (based on Band D figures).

Parks and Open Spaces

A large proportion of this budget is for the installation of a Memorial Garden at the Millennium Clock and improvements to the skate ramp facility at the Millstone play area. The remaining 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 £1,000 to invest in programmes such as the planters, circular walks, tree planting and other initiatives.

Staff, Admin and Office Costs

We currently employ two part time members of staff. Our Clerk, Sarah Hughes who 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. In 2022-23 the council will also be employing a part time Groundsperson. As with all employees, we have to pay National Insurance, pension contributions and pay for training, specialist clothing and equipment as needed.

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

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

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

Each year, in November, we invite local organisations to apply for a grant from the Community. This £6,300 is allocated across a wide range of organisations each year. We also contribute to the local Citizens Advice Bureau from this fund.

Community Investment

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 £3,000, 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 the Millstone play area skate ramp improvements.

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.

Community Buildings

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 and this year it will be £4,000 towards its upkeep. Face to face council meetings will be held 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. 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 £164,882. In addition to this, we have to allow for having a £25,000 buffer in the bank, so the total we need to raise is £189,882. By the end of the financial year (31 March 2022), we do not expect to have spent everything that was budgeted for this year and so we will have too much money in the bank (£49,731), plus the estimated VAT which will be reclaimed of £23,300. This is taken away from the total we need to raise, leaving a balance of £116,851. The Tax Base for the 2022-23 financial year of equivalent Band D properties is 2171 and the cost per Band-D property: £53.82.

Once the budget figure is set, Flintshire County Council calculate the proportion of the Band D rate for other property bands.

Please see below image 1 which is a detailed expenditure budget, listed by individual budget headings and image 2 a bar chart giving on overview of expenditure.

2022/23 Community Council Budget Overview