Precept 2025-2026

Dear Resident,

The Town Council would like to take this opportunity to outline its precept decision, the impact, and the Council’s strategic aspirations.

What is a precept?

The Precept is a tax that Town Council’s charge their local electors to meet their budgetary requirements.

Town Councils do not receive any direct funding from central Government and rely on their Precept, plus any other income they generate from services or facilities they provide. The Town Council Precept is part of the Council Tax and is collected from local electors via their Council Tax payments. It requests this funding from its ‘local billing authority’ – in this case, Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC).

The Precept requirement is the difference between the Town Council’s estimated income and its anticipated spending requirements for the financial year (its budget). The financial year runs from 1st April to 31st March.

Cllr D Strachan (Chairman of the Council’s Finance & General Purposes Committee)

“The Council has been able to deliver a balanced budget for the next financial year as required by law and will enable the Council to improve its service offer to the Town. All Councils, as well as the people they serve, face difficult financial circumstances.

As a Council we are mindful of our responsibilities to maintain services to the Town’s people and our budget is designed to not only maintain but improve our offer. Officers and Councillors have had extensive consultations to set the precept at an affordable level by reducing our ongoing costs by £63,874 but there are a number of factors which have increased the Council’s expenditure which are outside the Council’s control.

Inflation has been calculated at 2.2% pa although the annual rate has increased recently to 2.5%. In addition, the major expense to the Council is salaries which includes the Council’s contributions to the Local Government pension scheme, however we will also incur an additional expenditure of £44,000 for the new employer’s National Insurance contribution imposed by central government.

In the last year the Council has improved its football pitches to an acceptable standard for competitive matches and fought the planning appeal for 416 houses to the North of Biggleswade. This unbudgeted expenditure had to be taken from reserves.

The Council continues to look to raise finance from available grants to reduce the impact on the precept. The Council has applied for £408,000 in supplementary grant funding to date and has been successful in accessing £174,000.

The Council are also requesting information on funds potentially still held by Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC) from monies paid to CBC for the benefit of the Town and also from Government grants intended for Town Councils like ours.

We are continuing to pursue discussions with CBC and the Town’s Ward Councillors to obtain such funds but cannot include them in our budget for 2025/26.

In the past year we have continued to make improvements to our recreation grounds with, in the case of Kitelands Recreation ground, sponsorship from Tritax Symmetry’s community fund, and the refurbishment of the Drove Road cemetery and chapel. This should be completed in the next year. These are in part funded by capital borrowing from the Public Works Loan Board to spread the cost over a number of years.

The Council also needs to replenish its Capital Reserve Fund to £100,000 over the next 4 years to cover capital expenditure without recourse to further borrowing. The increase in the Town Council’s element of Council Tax for a Band D property is £26.68 for the year, equivalent to 51p per week.

The Council will continue to review its facilities and fund-raising opportunities to enable it to offer an improved service to the Town at an affordable price”.

WHY IS THE INCREASE NECESSARY

Vision for Biggleswade

Our vision for Biggleswade is that it should be a thriving and sustainable market town with a range of employment and community facilities, providing quality of life and economic opportunities to meet the diverse needs of the community and with a high-quality environment, including green spaces, to promote healthy lifestyles.

Corporate Aspirations 2021/2025

The town that we serve is growing fast and there are many challenges to be addressed. Those challenges also bring opportunities, and we must make the most of those opportunities to improve our town and support our community. The Town Council is changing in order to be the best it can be in delivering our services and to be more effective in representing the vital interests of our community to others. The Corporate Aspirations 2021/2025 sets out our aspirations to enable us to achieve our goals.

If you wish to view our Corporate Aspirations 2021-25 document, please click here.

What will the increase be

A precept increase of 13% has been agreed. The total precept being £1.83m and the budget being £2.1m. In real terms, this equates to an additional sum of £26.68 per annum or 51p per week for a Band D property.

Members have very carefully considered the emerging demands upon the Council and have decided to increase revenue budgetary provision for Allotments, Car Parks, Public Conveniences, Recreation Grounds, and Public Realm vehicles and play equipment maintenance. In addition further capital investment has been agreed for Council Car Parks, Recreation Grounds, Public Realm equipment, and the Orchard Community Centre.

Public Works Loan Board Investment

The Town Council has allowed for an indicative Public Works Loan borrowing allowance in the 2025/26 financial year, to support the redevelopment of the remaining 12 play areas.

The Council recognises the benefits to resident’s physical, mental and emotional health as a result of accessing green spaces.

Consistent with recognised good practice the Council will reach out and consult residents as part of the PWLB application process.

Financial Transparency

The rules set by Government are designed to make sure that the Council takes no unacceptable risks with public money. To this end the Council is held to account by both Internal and External audit, the outcomes of which are posted on the Councils website consistent with the Transparency code for Smaller Authorities.

Conclusion

In summary, the Council remain fully committed to delivering improvements throughout the town. Whilst the Council understand that residents may not wish to see a precept increase, it is hoped that residents understand the reasons behind this and value the investments being made to the town to benefit the community.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Tarrant
Town Clerk & Chief Executive

Precept 2024 25 Leaflet.pdf 7.pdf Page 1
Precept 2024 25 Leaflet.pdf 7.pdf Page 2
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