Finance and accounts

How is the Parish Council funded?

Parish councils draw their funds from the council tax paid by residents of the parish. Next time you get your bill, you may notice a small portion of the fees goes to the local council. These funds are known as the precept. Parish councils must hold insurance, have a paid clerk and pay for their accounts to be audited, so a good portion of the precept goes on these requirements. The remainder can be used to fund local amenities, or within strict financial limits, they can also spend on anything which will be, in the council’s opinion, in the interests of the parish. In practice, Curry Mallet tries to keep its precept as low as practically possible which means that there are only limited funds available to spend on specific projects. Projects are usually funded by applying for grant money from a variety of sources (e.g. the lottery, SSDC, various government departments, etc.) each of which have their own funding criteria.

As a local elector, or an interested person, you have certain legal rights in respect of the accounting records of smaller authorities. As an interested person you can inspect accounting records and related documents. When smaller authorities have finished preparing accounts for the financial year and approved them, they must publish them (including on a website).

ACCOUNTS FOR YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2020