Finance, Policies/Contracts & HR

The finance committee looks at allocating the funds available to the parish. We consider the merit and cost-effectiveness of different projects and proposals, including those mooted by other committees. We propose, monitor and implement a financial plan for the parish to ensure a sustainable future for community services. The committee is also responsible for creating and amending policies and any staffing or HR matters.

We actively seek to control or reduce costs for our community whilst offering a continued high level of service.

The Parish Council continues to maintain a number of public areas within the villages of Hodson, Chiseldon, Badbury and Draycott Foliat to a high standard, tailoring services to where they are most needed.   This maintenance includes grass cutting of public areas; the supply, maintenance and emptying of rubbish and dog waste bins; litter picking; clearing of fly tipping; specific areas of hedge cutting; some pavement maintenance and tree work under certain circumstances.

In addition, based on residents feedback, a number of improvements have been made to the recreation fields to improve drainage to allow play during the winter months, a project will shortly be undertaken to increase parking at the recreation fields and improve the facilities there.  The council is also working to put together a fund to replace the recreation hall with a more inclusive asset as well as working to improve the facilities at the allotments.  Further, parking pinch-points have been identified within the Parish, and the council is working with the Borough Council to alleviate these problems by increasing the available space allocated to car parking.  A project is underway to understand the issues on Norris Close and other areas in the parish such as Castle View Road will follow.  The council is also responding to feedback from parishioners regarding speeding through the villages, and the council will trial interactive speed signs, beginning with Hodson Road in the coming months.

Following our January announcement that the precept for the 2024-2025 municipal year will remain at £160,000, we can confirm the Tax Base (number of Band D equivalent) properties in the area has changed from 1087.3 to 1063.2. The precept remaining at £160,000 means that a band D household tax base will be £150.49 which is an increase of £3.34 a year, or around 28p a month.

When we have the updated band precept costs for 2024-25 we will publish them on this page.

The full list of council tax bandings for 2023/24 are below:

The Parish is responsible for a number of services in the local area such as graveyards, allotments, maintenance of public areas (hedge cutting, grass cutting etc), litter-picking, the recreation ground, recreation hall and defibrillators among other things.

The Parish Precept forms a part of the overall council tax demand from Swindon Borough Council; other items include the Borough Council’s requirements and precepts from Wiltshire Police and the Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service. The final annual council tax bill is usually set in early to mid-March when SBC finalise their budget with council tax demands being sent mid to late-March ready for the start of the municipal year on 1st April.

Click the table below to see a full-size image.

If you have any questions relating to the precept or the services that the Parish Council provides in the community, please contact the Parish Clerk via clerk@chiseldon-pc.gov.uk.

Precept league table

The spreadsheet below shows precepts for town and parish councils in England. To view information on all the Swindon parishes, go to the Local Authority Dropdown tab, and and select Swindon from the dropdown list.

Council tax statistics for town and parish councils in England

You can find information from previous years on the Government’s website.

How the Committee works

The committee meets as needs dictate, but in any event at least once every two months. In order for action to be approved by the committee it needs to have been proposed by one member and seconded by at least one other committee member.

The committee looks through all the issues and provides a plan of action for dealing with them. It also reviews what progress has been made on the issues raised in previous meetings. All of this process is documented and made public in the committee minutes.

Attend the committee

We encourage members of the community to attend meetings. Within the meeting, there will be the opportunity to asks questions or make comments and suggestions. Meeting times are posted on the News and Events page of the website.

Our minutes and agendas

You can view our minutes and agendas as webpages, a pdf documents or a word documents. Please visit the committee minutes and agenda webpage.