Please click this banner to return to our main page.

1. The financial year ended on 31 March 2001 and we will be preparing accounts for audit, the date of which will be announced in due course. These accounts will not show any unusual expenditure and it was kept within budget.

2. A budget has been prepared for the new financial year. This shows a total figure of £112,000 which will be raised by a Council Tax precept of £12,000 and from balances and interest during the year.

3. The budget contains two large items, but otherwise is in a conventional form with no unusual item.

4. The two large items are for:

Recreation (basically playing pitches) £40,000
Village centre improvements £45,000.

The Chairman will mention both of these schemes in her report which follows.

5. For over 20 years the Council has pursued a policy of building up reserves in order to make financial contributions to facilities in the village. In local authority terms this has been a policy of “capital” rather than “revenue” funding. You may have seen reports in the press that in January 2001 Congleton Borough Council approached this Council (and the four Town Councils in the Borough) to make revenue contributions to certain facilities in the village. No decision has been made nor any commitment given but we have agreed to discuss the matter. These discussions may result of a change in our financial policy in future years.

David Cowgill
Clerk of the Council
April 2001