Parish Council Budget and Precept for 2026/27

At its recent meeting, Iron Acton Parish Council agreed its budget and parish precept for the financial year 2026/27.

Each year the Parish Council is required to set a budget to cover the cost of delivering local services and maintaining parish assets, and to set a precept, which is the Parish Council’s share of council tax.

The 2026/27 Budget

For 2026/27, the Parish Council has approved a balanced revenue budget of £99,994.

The budget provides funding for:

• Staffing and administration costs
• Maintenance of parish land, open spaces, trees, and woodland
• Ongoing parish services such as litter bins and equipment
• Planned works and investment in parish assets and facilities

The budget has been prepared on a prudent basis, taking account of rising costs while seeking to keep the impact on residents as low as possible.

Importantly, the Council has not relied on reserves or Community Infrastructure Levy to fund day-to-day services. Community Infrastructure Levy is legally restricted and is managed separately for specific infrastructure projects.

The Parish Precept

To fund the approved budget, the Council has set a parish precept of £97,094 for 2026/27.

This compares with a precept of £91,540 in 2025/26 and reflects increased costs alongside planned service delivery and asset maintenance.

Impact on Council Tax

The parish precept is shared across all homes in the parish through the council tax system.

Based on the indicative council tax base provided by South Gloucestershire Council:

• The Band D parish council charge for 2026/27 will be £128.19
• This is an increase of £4.65 per year, or around 9 pence per week, compared with 2025/26
• The increase represents 3.76% for a Band D household

The increase is lower than the percentage rise in the total precept because the number of chargeable properties in the parish has increased, helping to spread costs more widely.

Financial Responsibility

When setting the budget and precept, the Parish Council carefully considered:

• Value for money for residents
• The need to maintain services and parish assets
• Financial sustainability and resilience
• Keeping council tax increases as low as reasonably possible

The Council is satisfied that the 2026/27 budget is robust, sustainable, and affordable, while continuing to support the needs of the parish.

Further information

The full Budget and Precept Report and the detailed budget figures are available on the Parish Council website.

Residents with questions about the budget or parish council tax are welcome to contact the Clerk to the Council.

Key figures at a glance

• Total budget: £99,994
• Parish precept: £97,094
• Band D parish charge: £128.19
• Annual increase for Band D: £4.65

Auditors

Legally the council has to carryout two financial audits each May. The first is called the Internal Audit & is completed by the clerk & I Selkirk.

The second will be carried out by BDO LLP based in Southampton. Once both have been completed the documents are published here.

Audited Accounts are guided by the following legislation

Provisions of the Audit Commission Act 1998

Accounts and Audit Regulations 2003 (amended)

The audit Commission’s Code of Audit Practice

Use the link below to discover more about financial regulations.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/18/enacted

 Parish Councils have to conduct an Annual Financial Risk Assessment. The information & documents below are used as part of this process.

Copies of the following pdf documents can be accessed to the right of this page.

• Yearly Budgets (pdf)
• Archive Accounts (pdf)

The links below allow access to view the latest financial pdf documents:

• Audited Accounts    AGAR 25:26
• Notices for Inspection
• Notices for Conclusion