Explaining our 2024-25 Budget

Explaining our 2024-25 Budget…

Following a number of comments and posts about our budget for the forthcoming financial year. We thought we'd take this opportunity to clarify a few matters:

  • Our precept in 2024-25 for a Band D household will be £63.44 per annum, this is the second-lowest per household rate out of all the parishes in the borough of Gravesham. And this is despite Meopham being the largest parish in the borough.
  • In 2024-25 the percentage spend on admin will be 67.7% compared to 32.3% for services and projects. We recognise this represents an increase in admin spend compared to the current financial year. However this percentage has been distorted by two key decisions which are as follows –

Key Decision 1: Increase in Staffing Hours

The Parish Council commissioned a staffing review in May 2023 which identified a need for 25 additional staffing hours a week. The review was carried out by an experienced Clerk from a local government consultancy.

The Parish Council accepted the review recommendations in December 2023. From April 2024, the Parish Council will have a staffing team consisting of a Clerk & Responsible Financial Officer (32.5 hrs per week), Deputy Clerk (30 hrs per week), Assistant Clerk (15 hrs per week) and Finance & Grants Officer (10 hrs per week).

This is the reasoning for the increase in staffing costs (and therefore Admin costs) in 2024-25 compared to the current financial year, as we are going from two part-time staff to a team of four. Not having adequate staffing levels is having a detrimental impact on the ability of the council to deliver services, projects and the council's administration effectively.

Key Decision 2: Closure of Pitfield Green Toilets

The Parish Council made the decision to close the public toilets effective from 1 April 2024, to be replaced by a free-to-access Community Toilet Scheme in six venues across the parish. This will deliver the benefits of longer opening hours and a wider range of options to access toilets.

Had the Parish Council retained the Pitfield Green toilets, we would have to increase our Band D amount to £85.83 per annum to cover toilet operating costs and refurbishment, this would have represented an increase in council tax by £36.72 for 2024-25. An increase we felt was not acceptable given the cost-of-living crisis.

The closure of the toilets, and therefore reduction in costs, is the explanation for the decrease in percentage spend on Services & Projects

Benefits of the 2024-25 Budget

  • The introduction of a 'Finance & Grants Officer' will mean there will be a greater focus on securing grant funding and diversifying income for the Council. This will help the Council to deliver a greater number of projects without needing to rely on taxation. It should also help to minimise the level of precept increases in future financial years
  • The closure of the toilets, presents an income generation opportunity for the Council and this can be used to minimise the increase in precept from the 2025-26 financial year onwards.

Conclusions

  • The combination of the above will see the percentage spend of Admin vs Services & Projects return to a more ordinary level in the 2025-26 budget as the benefits of the decisions we are taking now are realised.
  • Below is a breakdown of the percentage spends each year dating back to 2010. This shows that the spends vary each year and there has been comparable percentage spends on admin in previous financial years. It also shows since our incumbent Officers joined, the percentage spend on admin had been decreasing from 2021 to now, as a result of them identifying opportunities for cost savings and carrying out reviews of contracts. It also confirms that the increase now is only because of the additional staffing, a decision not taken by the council officers.

Should anyone have any further enquiries about our budget for 2024-25, please do not hesitate to email: enquiries@meopham-pc.gov.uk