Town and Parish Councils vary in size. Some represent a few hundred people, others represent communities of over 30,000 people. Budget and staffing levels are proportionate to the size of the community, number of residential properties being served and the work and projects agreed by the council.

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Holmes Chapel Parish Council can only spend, raise or use money if it has a statutory power to do so. It has a wide range of powers under different acts of Parliament, most of which are discretionary. The exercise of these powers may depend on other bodies, for example, the owner of land or another public body such as the highways authority. Almost all the powers of Holmes Chapel Parish Council may be exercised by either the Parish Council or the Borough Council, in our case, Cheshire East Council.

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Holmes Chapel Parish Council raises money by precept (a mandatory demand) on Cheshire East Council. The precept required is then collected by the Borough Council as part of the council tax levied on council tax payers in the parish.

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Holmes Chapel Parish Council prepares an annual budget detailing our action plan for both revenue and capital spending for the next three years; the budget is agreed in December each year for the ensuing financial year which runs from 1 April to 31 March.

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Our current budget, which was fixed in December 2022 for the year 2023/24, can be viewed in the folder below.  There was a increase of 2.1% to the precept for 2023/24, with the band D contribution rising to £86.80 per annum for a band D property.

 

Previous budgets and our forthcoming budget for 2024/25, agreed by the Council in December 2023, can be viewed in the "All Budget Reports" folder below.

 

The Council act on feedback received at annual Parish Meetings, representation at public events, as well as additional consultations shared with the village populous to compile a long term plan for capital spending (5 Year Plan) accompanied by a project planning index.  The project plan, which includes the 5 year capital spending plan, is reviewed quarterly at the relevant committee meeting to update with new projects and prioritise the proposed time scale for each project. The budget is reviewed annually during the budget setting process and formally agreed at Full Council when setting the budget for the following year. Projects undertaken during the current financial year are reviewed continually at relevant committee meetings.

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The 5 year Capital Spending Plan, which now includes the Project Planning Index, can be viewed in the budget year folder to which it applies.     

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Every payment made by the Council is listed at the end of every set of Full Council minutes.  Receipts are also logged in the minutes.   Council accounts are available for scrutiny by any resident by appointment with the Clerk of the Council.

The Council is audited each year, in accordance with the specifications of the Audit Commission (as per section 4 of the Annual return for Local Councils in England and Wales)

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The Parish Council's internal processes for the management of risk including finances can be viewed in the Policies section of this website.