Council Matters: The Parish Precept
Each year the Parish Council sets a budget for the following twelve months. We work out how much we need to spend in order to provide services to the parish and to cover our administration costs. We take into account the money available to us through all forms of funding.
North Huish Parish Council is mostly funded through the ‘precept’, which is effectively a tax. This is collected on our behalf by South Hams District Council as part of the Council Tax collection each year.
On average, parish precepts make up 4% of the Council Tax in the South Hams District: in North Huish, the precept is just under 1% of your Council Tax.
How your Council Tax is distributed in 2024-25
How much is the parish precept?
The precept for North Huish varies according to the Council Tax band of your property:
| Band | North Huish Precept |
|---|---|
| Band A | £15.14 |
| Band B | £17.66 |
| Band C | £20.19 |
| Band D | £22.71 |
| Band E | £27.76 |
| Band F | £32.80 |
| Band G | £37.85 |
| Band H | £45.42 |
The total precept collected for North Huish Parish Council in 2024-25 is £5000, which is the same as last year; however, the actual precept collected from each household has fallen slightly this year.
How we spend your money
Our expected budget allocates the precept we have collected from you as follows:
| Item | Proportion of our budget |
|---|---|
| Clerk’s salary, expenses & training | 31% |
| Highways drainage maintenance | 30% |
| Play park maintenance | 16% |
| Insurance | 7% |
| Monthly meeting room hire costs | 4% |
| Debrillator maintenance | 3% |
| Local election charges | 3% |
| DALC subscription | 2% |
| Website costs | 2% |
Parish Councillors do not appear in our budget as they are not paid, and do not receive any allowance.
Statutory costs
About half our costs are things we are legally obliged to pay for: the Clerk’s salary, insurance, meeting room hire, election charges and website all stem from our statutory duties.
Discretionary spending
Our largest discretionary cost is highways, which we have increased in recent years to cover gaps left by reductions in the service provided by our parent councils: for example, it is now our contractor who routinely clears the road drains and gulleys. The council’s Chairman and Clerk are designated as trustees of the play park and village hall land, and the parish council continues to maintain the area and equipment for the benefit of the whole community. We maintain the defibrillators as a public service. The subscription to the Devon Association of Local Councils provides us with valuable support, advice and training.
We are occasionally asked for funding for external groups and projects: unless they are of direct benefit to the parish, we usually refuse such requests in order to keep the precept low.
How do we compare?
The precept for North Huish has been kept very low for many years. Here is how the precept for the parish compares to nearby town and parish councils:
Precepts for Band D properties in 2024-25
North Huish has the lowest precept of any full parish council in the South Hams.
Find out more
You can find out more about the ways in which your Council Tax is spent by visiting the websites of the different bodies who have a claim over the tax collected.