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Precept Meeting 2026

ALSTON MOOR PARISH COUNCIL PRECEPT MEETING

The Parish Council met on 12 January to consider the applications for money from the precept, as well as what would be required by the Council itself during the 2026-7 year. There were a record number of applications – thirteen – from local groups, hoping to receive money to support their activity in our community.

The parish precept is part of the total Council Tax that everyone pays. Most of this goes to Westmorland and Furness Council to pay for their costs – the parish council precept is a relatively small part of the whole.

Obviously we need to ensure that there is enough money to keep the Parish Council functioning properly, and that includes such things as paying the utilities bills and insurance premiums (which have gone up for everybody), and the wages of our Clerk, the payments to the handyperson, the rent of Nenthead and Garrigill village halls when we meet there etc etc.

The thirteen local groups, each of which is offering something that local residents value, submitted their requests along with details about their group, their current financial situation, etc. Each of the requests was considered. We had to strike a balance between the needs of each group, their importance to the quality of life on Alston Moor, and the inevitable rise in council tax that everyone will be paying. As a result, few groups will receive all they asked for, and some will receive much less.

After everything had been considered, the Parish Council precept will be going up by 18.01%. For a D-band house (which is the figure on which precepts are calculated) this will mean a rise of about £1.50 a week, which is less that the price of a coffee or much the same as a litre carton of orange juice. Without such a rise (considerably lower than that of many other parish councils), local organisations that people value (such as the Nenthead snowplough, the village halls and toilets, and many more) would be unable to provide what they do for our community, so we hope that everyone will be happy to know that their Council Tax is going to keep the community in good heart.