Financial Information

Financial Regulations

Westfield Parish Council has agreed Financial Regulations which apply to its activities. You can view them here. The regulations are reviewed every year at the Council’s Annual General Meeting and follow the National Association of Local Councils best practice guidance.

Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2024/25

The Parish Council’s/ Annual Accounts are audited each year in accordance with guidelines issued by the Audit Commission.

Section 137 and General Power of Competency

In meetings and in reports, councillors or the Parish Clerk will sometimes refer to Section 137 expenditure. This is a section of the Local Government Act of 1972 which allows councils to spend money in a way which is “in the interests of and will directly benefit its area or any part of it and some or all of its inhabitants”.  However as Westfield Parish has over two thirds of elected members and the Clerk is CiLCA Qualified (Certificate in Local Council Administration) the Council is awarded the General Power of Competency.  This allows parish councils to have the power to do anything an individual can do, provided it is not against the law or is used to try and over come existing legislation.

Monthly Financial Reports

Each month the Responsible Financial Officer reports to Council on the financial position of the Council.  To access these monthly papers please click here.

Quarterly Reports of Expenditure over £500

Each quarter the Council reports on all expenditure equalling or over £500. To access these quarterly papers please click here.

Precept for 2025/26

The Parish Council raises income by means of a precept levied on households in the parish and this is collected together with Council Tax by Rother District Council. Each year, by January at the latest, Council has to agree the budget and precept for the forthcoming financial year.   In January 2025 Council approved the budget and agreed to increase the precept to £118,770. This will equate to £103.27 per annum (£8.61 per month) for Band D Council tax payers which is a 46 pence monthly increase. This will allow Westfield Parish Council to not only have sufficient funds to run the day to day functions of the Council but also to start build up earmarked reserves for the open spaces projects and traffic project. To see the budget in more detail please click on one of the below links.

CiL Funding

CiL stands for Community Infrastructure Levy and “is a levy that local authorities can choose to charge on new developments in their area. The money should be used to support development by funding infrastructure that the council, local community and neighbourhoods want.” Sourced from the Planning Advisory Service website. Details of the funds Westfield Parish Council have received can be found here. Funds will be used to support traffic calming projects and improvements to the playgrounds.