Yarnfield Village Hall- Start 7.30pm

Members of the public are welcome to attend

Agenda

1. Apologies for Absence
2. Declaration of Interest
3. Parish Clerk’s report
4. Budget – update and schedule of payments
5. Date and time of the next meeting

Minute

Present (for all or part of the meeting): –

Officer in attendance: John Fraser, Clerk to the Parish Council

Public at the meeting: 3

Apologies for Absence

• Apologies were received from Cllr Broader

Declaration of Interest

• Nil

Parish Clerk’s report

• A request has been received from the Community Action Group to make a donation to the Community Heartbeat Trust of £100.
• A request has been received from the Community Action Group to purchase a new planter to replace the rotten wooden planter in the centre of the village.
• Resolution: It was resolved that:

1. A donation of £100 from the Community Action Group defibrillator fund is made to the Community Heartbeat Trust.
2. A replacement planter is purchased by the Community Action Group up to a value of £100.00.

Budget and Precept 2025/26

National Insurance

• The recent change to national insurance rates will mean the parish council will in future be required to pay national insurance.
• Employer’s national insurance is still due when an employee is above the state pension age, even if the employee is no longer liable to pay national insurance.
• The 2024 pay award took the salary of the clerk above the NI threshold with the result that an employer’s NI contribution of £142 will be paid to HMRC in 2024.
• The changes in employer’s NI contribution introduced in the October 2024 budget, that reduced the threshold, will result in an annual NI contribution of approximately £768 after April 2025.
• The government is not compensating parish and town councils for the increase in employer National Insurance Contributions. This is because parish councils are not directly funded by central government.
• The National Association of Local Councils is campaigning to see an amendment introduced to the budget legislation to protect parish and town councils from the proposed increase.

Village Hall room hire

• Room hire charges are incurred for:
• Community Action Group meetings
• Lunch Club Meetings
• Events Working Group activities
• Ad hoc parish council meetings
• Parish council meetings held at Yarnfield Park Conference Centre, do not attract a fee. Meetings have been held at the centre since 2021.
• The installation of internet access in the village hall and changes to the regular bookings of the hall have provided an opportunity to review whether parish council meetings should in future be held at the hall. A request has been made to the village hall committee to review their charging arrangement for future parish council meetings.

• The room hire cost of the lunch club and Events Working Group will be offset by income generated by the groups.

Trent Grounds Maintenance

• The reduced number of cuts of the village green during the summer resulted in a saving of 13.0% on the contract value.

• The 2025/26 contract price is based on a 2.5% increase and includes new work being added to the contract:
• North green additional cutting plus 4 strims during the growing season
• Post Office hedge
• A price for ad-hoc work has been negotiated with Trent Grounds Maintenance to pay for additional work identified during the year:
• Operator with hand tools £20.00 per hour
• Operator with mower/strimmer £22.50
• Operator with chainsaw £30.00
• Emptying of 1 litter bin £12.50

Reserve Accounts

• Reserves and balances comprise general reserves and earmarked reserves. These help the parish council cope with unforeseen financial pressures and plan for future spending commitments. They are an essential part of good financial management.

Projected additional income

• Warm Welcome Grant (Stafford Borough Council)
• A grant of £900 has been awarded for the 2024 warm welcome activity
• A grant will be awarded by Stafford Borough Council for 2025/26, the value of the grant has still to be confirmed.
• A VAT returns 2024/5 of approximately £5,300 will be made in April 2025.

Section 106 funding – village green project

• The parish council is due to receive planning obligation funds from Stafford Borough Council in 2025/26. This money will be used to pay for the proposed work associated with the village green project.
• Walnut Tree Farm           16,800
• Yarnfield Park [SBC Cabinet – 28/09/21] 15,000
• Yarnfield Park [SBC Cabinet – 06/10/22]           10,000

2025/26 Budget

• The budget set out in Appendix 1 reflects the financial demands on the council and the delivery of the special projects identified the Parish Assembly.

Precept

• The proposed precept of £29,725, which represents an increase of 6.1% on the 24/25 precept, will enable the council to meet demands on services and the programme of special projects.
• Each additional 1% increase in precept would generate approximately £300 a year.
• The proposed level of precept for 2025-26 is £35.49 for a Band D property per year. This represents an increase of £2.03 per year.
• An assessment of the impact on Band D properties has been undertaken as part of the annual budget review. (Appendix 2)
• Resolutions: It was resolved that:

1. The 2025/26 budget, as set out in Appendix 1, is approved.
2. The clerk writes to Stafford Borough Council to confirm the parish council’s precept for the next financial year.

Date and time of next meeting

• Wednesday 12 February 2025 at 7.30pm