Council Finance

The work that your Parish Council does for the village is largely financed by raising a precept/ levy via the Council Tax on all 147 properties in the village. The amount varies from year to year and depends upon what needs doing, how much grant aid we can obtain from different sources (usually from St Edmundsbury Borough Council and Suffolk County Council), and interest rates pertaining at the time (affecting the income from the reserves).

In the financial year 2007/8 the precept is around £8,000 which  equates to a cost of  £30.34 per Band D property. The General Expenditure power is £5.64 for 2007/8

All Parish Councils are subject to official audit and come under new government regulations which give a fairly arduous regime for a small village. Our current auditors, determined by the Audit Commission, are Lubbock Fine based in London.

The accounting year is to the end of March and a presentation of the accounts is made to the Parish Council by the Clerk as soon as possible after that date. In any event a summary of the financial situation is presented to the Annual Village Meeting in the Spring even if the full accounts are not made up by that date.

Budgeting for the following financial year is normally done in the Autumn and the final budget is agreed at the November Parish Council meeting. St Edmundsbury Borough Council are then informed as to Great Bradley’s precept requirements in order that maximum benefit may be obtained from all available grant aid.

Any village organisation that needs financial assistance is advised to inform the Parish Council at the earliest opportunity in order that it may be considered and then, if agreed, included in the budget for the following year. However, life is not always like that and sometimes money is needed more urgently which is why the Parish Council has reserves to cover contingencies.