Welcome to Kington Langley

In England, parish councils receive most of their funding from a precept, which is a small amount added to local residents’ council tax bills and collected on their behalf by the district or unitary council. They can also receive income from grants, donations, community infrastructure levies and fees from services or facilities they manage. Kington Langley Parish Council (KLPC) receives about £28,000 from the precept.

There are many responsibilities of a parish council with the focus on representing the local community, with the most significant cost being the manpower involved in managing these legal duties, which require the services of a Parish Clerk and a Responsible Finance Officer. The first column in the graphic above is titled ‘Administering the parish’ and covers these costs plus other necessities: annual financial audit, insurance for parish assets (e.g. bus shelters), IT (website, laptop for the clerk), and paying Wiltshire Council to run elections when required.

The biggest external expense is grass cutting; this is part of ‘Maintaining Our Village’. Kington Langley has extensive Registered Commons and verges which must be maintained. Not all verges are the responsibility of the parish council; some are maintained by Wiltshire Council Highways’ contractor and some by housing associations. Other items to maintain include noticeboards and the bus shelters. The parish council is responsible for the trees on the Registered Commons, which are inspected annually and require occasional tree surgery, both of which need to be paid for.

Some jobs around the village are not the responsibility of the parish council, but the parish council can engage with the Parish Steward (from Wiltshire Council) who can help with clearing gullies and drains, filling small potholes, cleaning and repairing signs, cutting back vegetation, fixing minor footway issues, and reporting larger defects for specialist teams. The parish council coordinates issues with Rights of Ways and pays for some activities, such as the maintenance of Byways 34 and 34A. The parish council will try and engage with the appropriate land owner, or Wiltshire Council, depending on the issue.

The ‘Projects’ column of the graphic shows the spend on discretionary items. The parish council provides and maintains defibrillators in 3 locations, a speed indicator device (SID), and takes on other projects where there is wide benefit to the village. A notable big project was the Millennium Footpath and a more recent one was the School Parking Project. Grants are sought wherever possible but these expensive projects normally involve a long-term loan from the HM Treasury funded Public Works Loan Board as parish funds are limited. Where possible, the parish council helps with smaller projects, for example providing materials to a volunteer group to help improve some infrastructure in the parish.

The detailed budget, showing income sources and how they are apportioned to cover the expected costs for the year ahead, together with the regular financial reports are available to view in the Financial section of the site here.