Accounts and Budget

Teignmouth Town Council is required to set a balanced budget (under the Local Government Act 2003) and comply with all statutory requirements pertaining to the setting of its budgets. To satisfy legal requirements, Councillors must approve a precept which meets the Council’s objectives and service level responsibilities, maintains appropriate reserves, and provides stability in the event of unforeseeable demands. The precept is the most local element of the Council Tax levied by Teignbridge District Council on properties within the Parish of Teignmouth. Teignbridge District Council each year determines the number of occupied and chargeable properties for the purpose of setting the precept.

The Town Council receives no external funding from government or other organisations; Teignbridge District Council ceased to receive and pass on the Council Tax Support Grant in April 2019 which amounted to £31,420 or approximately 5% of the then Town Council budget.

The Council did not and continues not to qualify for any government grants to support loss of income from our property due to the rateable value of the buildings being too high, either on an individual basis or combined.

Whilst principal authorities (such as District and County Councils) are subject to council tax referendum principles, meaning they are capped at the amount of increase they can levy at £5 or 2% whichever is the greater, town and parish councils are not.

Previous Setting

In 2018/19 the Town Council approved a 3.5% increase to its budget and in 2019/20 voted for a budget increase of 3 %.

The 2020/21 precept increased by 40% to allow for major works at Bitton House and a new CCTV system for the Town to be carried out in the future, this resulted in a Band D council tax figure of £134.34 which equated to £0.74p per week increase.

The 2021/22 precept was only raised by 3% by the Town Council, the resulting decrease in the Council Tax base from Teignbridge District Council meant that residents saw a 6.0% increase in the amount raised on behalf of the Town Council. This equated to £142.84 per Band D property, the equivalent of an increase of £0.16 per week.

In 2022-23, Councillors decided that a cost of living rise of 5.5% was most appropriate and was agreed at an Extraordinary Full Council meeting on 25 January 2022.

Teignmouth Town Council’s accounting year runs from the 1st April – 31st March.

……………………………..

The Annual Return

The annual return is a six-page document that must be presented to the Full Town Council for formal approval before being submitted to the External Auditor on or before the 30th June.

The Independent Auditor is also required to sign the Annual Return.

The Annual Return is sent to the External Auditor with a variety of supporting documents as well as any other supplementary documentation as requested by the External Auditor during the auditing period.

Upon receipt, the External Auditor examines the annual return and all of the supporting documentation and upon completion will ‘sign’ the document (page 4 of 6). The annual return document is then returned with a written report, the actions of which highlighted are to be addressed by the Town Council.

Public Engagement

The Town Council has a duty to display the fully completed Annual Return with the accompanying Notice of Conclusion of Audit.

The electorate have the right to exercise their rights to;

• View the unaudited accounts – a 30 day period which must include the first 10 days in July. This is known as the ‘Exercise of Public Rights’. Notices to be published and displayed for the 30-day period on the Town Councils website and noticeboards.
• For a 14-day period upon the date of the ‘Notice of Conclusion’ make a request to take copies of the accounting statements, the external auditor’s opinion and certificate of completion, any recommendation made relating to the authority.

Notices and the return to be published and displayed for the 14-day period on the Town Council’s website and noticeboards.

Please view the Annual Governance Accountability Return Report 2021-2022