Finance

Parish Council Funding

A Parish Council is funded by something called a "precept". The Parish Council produce an estimated budget for the upcoming financial year. The District Council then raise this through the area's council tax and return it to the Parish Council. This precept is used to fund all activities and services that are the statute responsibility of the Parish Council. For Ixworth & Ixworth Parish Council, this includes, but is by no means limited to:

• The safe and legal operation of the Council, including paying for our own staff members as well as any and all external contractors required to fulfil legal duties such as accountants, auditors, legal counsel and membership to the local council association.
• Infrastructure such as IT, telephones, stationery, utilities, insurance, meeting room fees and many other services required to keep the Parish Council operational.
• Support funding and provision of staff to the Neighbourhood Plan Working Group
• Services related to the cemetery including contractors, Council employees, record keeping, tree works, administration related to internments and reservations, and any other matter related to the provision, administration and upkeep of the cemetery.
• Provision and maintenance of recreational areas such as the play area and all groundworks, including planting and upkeep of vegetation.
• Maintenance, upkeep and repairs around the village such as provision of grit bins, verge cutting on the roundabouts, noticeboards, purchasing of bins and the contractor to empty them.
• The upkeep and maintenance of the wildlife reserve, Robin's Copse and providing support to St Mary's with the upkeep of their churchyard.

These are just a few examples of the types of things our Parish Council uses their precept for. Many other needs will be identified and funded by the Parish Council varying from supporting the Plant Britain scheme to elections; from additional resources required to the annual Christmas Tree! As these unexpected costs will often ebb and flow, as the Governmental Authority, the Parish Council are empowered by Parliament to spend a limited amount of money on anything they deem of direct benefit to the community, including ensuring the Council is run efficiently. During the course of the year, or even over several years,  a Parish Council may need to place money in reserve for any expected expenditure or emergency planning. This is often on the advice of their Responsible Finance Officer (RFO).

 

Responsible Finance Officer

Each Parish Council must name a Responsible Financial Officer (RFO) who aids the Council by providing support and guidance on the legal, effective and efficient use of funds. The RFO also oversees all financial transactions, including invoices, statements, reconciliations,  payments, etc, on a monthly basis. The RFO also compiles all documentation at the end of the financial year and prepares them for audit. Parish Council accounts are audited internally by an independent auditor. Once this has been successfully approved, the RFO must submit all documentation and supporting reports to the Government Appointed External Auditor and engage with their audit.

 

In this section

To ensure compliance with Governmental guidance, Ixworth & Ixworth Thorpe have a set of policies and procedures relating to their management of finances, which you can find in this section, using the links on the right hand side.

You will also find financial reports from the last few years. These are usually published once a year but they cannot be published until approved, which may not be immediately after the financial year ends.