1. What is the Parish Council Precept? 

   The precept is the Parish Council’s share of your total Council Tax.  It is used to fund the day to day running costs of the Parish Council.

2. How much will the precept be from 1^st April 2026?
   
   The precept for Band D properties will be £31.76 per annum, or £2.65 per month from 1^st April 2026. This is an increase on 2025/26 of £8.97 per annum, or 75 pence per month.
3. How does this compare with precept levels in other villages across North Norfolk? 

   In 2025/26 Runton’s precept was £22.79 – the tenth lowest of 107 villages in North Norfolk. At the increased rate it would still be the 20^th lowest compared to this.  The average village precept in North Norfolk was £49.43 in 2025/26 – Runton was less than half that figure.The graph below shows the 2025/26 figures. The numbers along the bottom represent parishes – the navy line is their level of precept.

   
4. Why has the precept been increased by more than normal this year? 

   In the eight years from 2017/18 the precept only went up by £1.42 in total.  This low level increase is not sustainable as the costs of the Council are subject to the same inflationary pressures as everyone else.  The precept has been set at a level that ensures a balanced revenue budget for 2026/27.

5. But what about all the money that the Council has in the bank – £206,000 as at the end of January 2026? 

   Of that money £142,000 is called a ‘Capital Reserve’, which arises from the sale of land in 2019. This is money that the Council is not legally allowed to spend on its day to day expenditure.  We have allocated some of that money (£24,000) to fund the speeding reduction project in West Runton. The Council is also looking at other one off capital projects that would benefit the Parish – these would come from the capital reserve.

6. But that still leaves £64,000 in the bank – what about that? 

   The parish has received all its income for 2025/26, but still has two months’ expenditure to pay out.  According to our 2025/26 budget this amounts to about £27,000.  This would then leave about £37,000 in our ‘Revenue, or General, Reserve’ at the end of the year – the funds that we are allowed to use for day to day expenditure.This amount (£37,000) represents just over six months’ worth of expenditure – this is in line with guidance given to Parish Councils that they should keep a general reserve of between 3 and 12 months’ expenditure.

7. I want to know more about how the Parish Council spends my money – how can I do this? 

   As part of improving our transparency, and accountability to parishioners, we will be publishing our 2026/27 budget on the website, as well as quarterly accounts.  Hard copies will also be available from the Reading Room in East Runton. If you have any further questions please contact our Parish Clerk on clerk@runton-pc.gov.uk or 07422 6659778.

Published February 2026