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WPC Budget 2025/26

Finance Uploaded on January 17, 2025

Precept 2025-26 : Warcop Parish Council

Your Council Taxbase for 2025-2026 has been calculated as 241.30. This is the number of chargeable dwellings adjusted for taxpayer entitlements to exemptions, reductions, discounts, and premiums.

The dwellings fall into the bandings set by the Valuation Office and are equated to Band D to arrive at the taxbase.

All of the elements making up the taxbase can impact the total each year as it is reflective of taxpayer entitlements and dwelling changes. However, there are three elements to note for 2025-2026:

  1. Council Tax Support – for 2023-2024 the Council agreed a harmonised or single scheme – retaining the awards up to 100% of amounts billed. The harmonisation required existing claims to be reviewed across 2023-2024 and through to the start of 2024-2025. Changes in entitlements for the single scheme are reflected in the 2025-2026 taxbase.
  2. Long term empty premiums – these premiums were revised with effect from the 1 April 2024 to encourage owners to release available dwellings to the market. The impact of the premium was estimated in the 2024-2025 taxbase, and the 2025-2026 taxbase is now based on the actual position/premiums.
  3. Second homes premium – from the 1 April 2025 the second homes premium applies. The taxbase includes these premiums based on the current information held on second homes. Your Council Taxbase includes 14.10 Band D equivalents for second homes premium. Once the premium is applied there may be changes coming in from taxpayers as there is currently no impact on Council Tax for second homes unless it is job-related where a discount is applied. There may be some challenge of the second homes classifications during 2025-2026.

There was no charging for parish streetlights through the 2024-2025 taxbase, or direct billing from the Highways Service, and that is confirmed to continue for 2025-2026. There will be no streetlights electricity charging for 2025-2026. A streetlights policy will be introduced by Westmorland and Furness Council that will propose charging from 2026-2027 which allows time to review the streetlights provision ahead of charging.

To calculate the amount of Council Tax that will be generated, the taxbase is multiplied by the new taxbase and the current Band D of £41.75 will be applied unless your precept is greater or less than the value calculated below.

2025-2026 taxbase 241.30 times 2024-2025 Band D £41.75 = £10,074.28 precept before any Band D increase or decrease (if there was no precept requested for 2024/25 the total will be zero)

If your precept required is greater or less than the straight calculation above, then we will divide your required precept by the 2025-2026 taxbase and the percentage change will appear on the Council Tax bills for your area. Please note that we are restricted to displaying the percentages to one decimal place.

When considering your precept, please remember that the Council Tax Support grant ended in 2024-2025 – there are no grants from 2025-2026 onwards.

Please can I ask you to arrange to notify Westmorland and Furness Council of your 2025-2026 precept by the 15 January 2025.  I confirm that an email or letter from the Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, or other authorised person, is accepted as your precept request, and we shall receipt. I have not included a form as the precept does not include any other elements. I would be very grateful if zero precepts could be confirmed by email or letter where that is relevant.

If your precept for 2025-2026 is £140,000 or more, please provide a note of your income and expenditure as Westmorland and Furness Council must publish that information on the website.

Thank you for your support. If you have any queries, please can you direct them to this mailbox, and we will reply as quickly as we can.

Kind regards

Sue Roberts CPFA, ACMA

Assistant Director of Finance & Deputy S151 Officer

Resources | Westmorland and Furness Council

Town Hall, Duke Street, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, LA14 2LD

westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk