With council tax bills for 2019/2020 currently dropping through letterboxes, this seems like a good time to talk about the parish precept.

The precept is the council tax that the billing authority (in this case, North Norfolk District Council) collects on behalf of a parish council. The precept is calculated as part of the parish council’s budget; it fills the gap between the parish council’s planned expenditure and its estimated income. Parish councils do not receive any direct funding from central government and so the precept is a hugely important part of a parish council’s income.

At its 3rd December 2018 meeting, Hoveton Parish Council agreed to request a precept of £51,570 for 2019/2020. This precept represents an increase of £4,500 (or 9.5%) on the precept the Parish Council requested for 2018/2019, though the increase works out at less than £5 extra per average household. The reasons for this increase are outlined in the minutes of the meeting of 3rd December 2018. The percentage increase for the Parish Council that’s listed on local residents’ council tax bills, however, refers to the increase paid by the council tax payer, not the increase in the overall precept amount requested by the Parish Council. So for example, for a Band D property:

The Band D charge is calculated as the precept divided by the tax base (the number of Band D equivalent dwellings in the parish).

Tax Base in 2018/19 was 809.70, precept was £47,095, so Band D charge was £47,095/809.70 = £58.16.

Tax Base for 2019/20 is 817.73, precept is £51,570, so Band D charge is £51,570/817.73 = £63.06.

So for a Band D property, the parish council precept increase paid by the council tax payer for 2019/2020 will be £4.90 (or 8.4%).

It is also worth noting that the Band D charge of £63.06 for 2019/2020 works out at just £5.26 a month (or £1.21 a week). This income allows your Parish Council to provide local residents with numerous services throughout the village (grass cutting, landscaping, litter and dog refuse management, street lighting and street furniture, to name just a few) and to maintain a number of local amenities (such as Granary Staithe, Riverside Park and Pocket Park, and Hoveton Village Hall).

Your Parish Council also acts as a community liaison with other local service providers (such as Norfolk County Council, North Norfolk District Council, the Broads Authority, and Norfolk Constabulary) and is always on hand to assist with queries and concerns raised by local residents. We hope you’ll agree that Hoveton Parish Council provides local residents with good value for money!