1 Jan 2026 – Finance Meeting (Minutes)

GREAT SANKEY PARISH COUNCIL
Finance Committee

Minutes of meeting: Tuesday 6th January 2026
Whittle Hall Community Centre

Chair: Cllr T Williams
Present: Cllr N Catlow
Cllr P Watson
Cllr S Pennington
Cllr B Simpson

In Attendance: K Carter (Clerk)

1. To receive and approve any apologies for unavoidable absence.
All members present.

2. To approve the minutes of previous meeting 2/12/25.
The draft minutes were moved and accepted as a true record of the meeting and signed as
such.

FINANCE/2026/01/1: Resolved to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 2nd
December 2025 as a true record.

3. To consider the budget and precept level for 2026-27 and make a final
recommendation to full Council.
There have been several budget meetings in the run-up to the final decision required to be
taken by full Council on 14 January 2026. These discussions have considered the council’s
current financial position, the general (emergency) reserve, and earmarked reserves. The
three-year financial projection is updated each year to allow the council to manage any
future financial burdens as far as possible.

The discussions to date are summarised as follows:

• Income.
o The majority of the council’s income is raised through the precept levied on all
households in the parish.
o Additional income is raised through the hire of the community centres. The
community centres are subsidised through the precept to provide good quality, but
affordable premises for community groups, charity organisations and small local
businesses. The setting of the hire rates is always a balancing act between
mitigating rising running costs and the impact of any increase on customers. Hire
rates were reviewed in October 2025 and a small increase implemented from 1
November 2025. Consideration was given to setting a maximum subsidy level of
£75,000 with phased increases in hire rates to meet this and link rates to the CPI.
(agreed 12.11.25, Parish/2025/92).
• Fixed expenditure. This covers basic expenses for admin, running costs for the
community centres and upkeep for the council’s green spaces. Future estimates are
based on previous and current costs with an allowance for inflation and known
increases.
• General Reserve. This is essentially an emergency fund to cover unexpected inflation,
unforeseen events and unusual circumstances. Guidelines are for this to cover 3-
6months expenditure. The current level of general reserve is £100,000 which is now only

FC/2026/1 3.2.26
GREAT SANKEY PARISH COUNCIL
Finance Committee

Minutes of meeting: Tuesday 6th January 2026
Whittle Hall Community Centre

around 2 months expenditure. The recommendation was to increase this by £10,000 per
annum over the next three years (agreed 12.11.25, Parish/2025/91)
• Earmarked Reserves. These are funds built up and set aside for specified long-term
projects or significant future expenditure. Current earmarked reserves are
o Parish Playing Field, £115,000. Match funding with the Football Foundation for the
installation of the drainage system.
o Sankey Station, £72,448. Project to re-purpose disused buildings for community use
in collaboration with Sankey Station CIC.
o Childs Wood Field, £35,395. Possible relocation of grounds team (feasibility study
currently underway) and re-landscaping for community use.
o Proposed additions:
a) Play Equipment. To set up a fund for the replacement of play equipment on Tim
Parry Recreation Ground and Vicarage Community Park. £10,000 per annum
for the next three years.
b) Grounds Equipment. To set up a fund to replace grounds equipment on a 3-
year rolling cycle with old equipment sold to mitigate purchase costs. £3,000 per
annum.
• Horticultural Apprentice. The council currently has a Grounds Team consisting of a
Head Gardener and Horticultural Apprentice. Workload is at a maximum with the
council’s current sites but will increase over the next 12-18months with the development
of the Parish Playing Field and the plans for Childs Wood Field. The current apprentice
is due to finish in Spring 2026 and will be taken on as a full-time Gardener. The council
has debated whether to take on another apprentice which has been widely accepted as
required to meet demand and further to this, the timing of recruitment. The current
recommendation is for the role to be filled mid-year in 2026-27.
• Unknown costs.
o PPF maintenance. Once the drainage system has been installed, the council is
required as part of the grant conditions from the Football Foundation to maintain the
pitches to a good standard. This will require an enhanced maintenance routine to be
carried out by an external contractor, which can only be properly assessed once the
works have ben completed. It is anticipated that the installation will start in Spring
2026 and a 6-month settling in phase will follow. The enhanced maintenance may
therefore be required midway through the 2026-27 financial year. A placeholder sum
of £13,000 has been allocated within the budget, but this may need to be increased
further.
o Childs Wood Field. Earmarked reserves for this project are currently £35,395.
Depending on the progression of the projects this may need additional funds for
completion.
o Parish-funded PCSO. The council has contributed towards additional PCSO
provision within Great Sankey since 2006. Cheshire Constabulary is currently
proposing to reduce the overall numbers of PCSO’s in the region, and this is likely to
happen. The council has had no correspondence relating to whether there will still
be an option to continue with a parish-funded PCSO or what this provision, if
offered, will look like. A budget of £46,300 has been allocated pending information
from Cheshire Constabulary and a consequent decision by the council on the
service.

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GREAT SANKEY PARISH COUNCIL
Finance Committee

Minutes of meeting: Tuesday 6th January 2026
Whittle Hall Community Centre

• Precept options. The options considered were to
a) increase the precept by 2% with an assumption that the PCSO fund would not be
required and could therefore be repurposed later in the year for the unknown costs
listed above. The disadvantage could be that there would not be additional funds if
the council continues with the PCSO position which may then require larger precept
increases in the future.
b) include a £50,000 contingency fund within the 2026-27 budget to manage the
unknown elements. This would necessitate a larger increase in precept for 2026-27
of approx. 8% with much lower increases in subsequent years. The concern was
that this would be an extra financial burden for residents on top of anticipated
increases in Borough Council tax rises, and police/fire service precepts. The
counterargument was that an 8% rise would still not be a significant sum for
householders as it equates to an additional £4.35 per annum or 6pence per week for
a Band D property.
c) Implement a 4% increase in precept over the next 3 years. On current estimates this
would give a £60,000 surplus over that 3-year period to build reserves for future
costs whilst giving residents a known & manageable increase each year.
A vote was taken and the majority decision was to recommend option c to full council for
consideration.

FINANCE/2026/01/2: Recommended that the parish council precept is increased by 4%
over the next three financial years.

4. To scrutinise financial expenditure arising since the last meeting, including
payments by Direct Debit.
A list of payments to be made had been circulated prior to the meeting. The following
payments were considered and approved.

Amount,
Presented By Description
£
Landscape Academy Npors Cat & Jenny Training £209.41
Amazon Mealworms Bird food – Grounds £6.99
Amazon Bird Seed Mix – Grounds £20.40
Amazon Flush Bolt for Container Window – Grounds £17.89
Amazon Peanut bird seed – Grounds £21.27
Trade UK Mini roller set, LED Light – BB Centre Maintenance £22.47
MKM Paving and grout – Grounds £206.30
B&B Hygiene Ltd Cleaning Supplies £520.67
Firecheck NW Ltd Fire extinguisher for TP £101.28
Firecheck NW Ltd Fire extinguisher for HM £202.56
WBC Wildflowers 2025 £5187.34
Holly Oak Tree Service Tree works Childs Wood Field £2700.00
Trade UK RCD Adaptor – Grounds £20.98
WBC Election Recharge Costs £6135.92

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GREAT SANKEY PARISH COUNCIL
Finance Committee

Minutes of meeting: Tuesday 6th January 2026
Whittle Hall Community Centre

WBC Service Charge – HM £382.89
Firecheck NW Ltd New fire alarm battery – HL £180.00
NWFE Ltd Computer software and control access switch £552.00
Canda Copying Office copier charges £174.83
Comtec Centre electric repair £696.00
Equals Card Petty Cash top up £180.61
TOTAL £17,539.81

FINANCE/2026/01/3: Resolved to authorise all payments listed (under LGA 1976 s19 or
LGA 1972 s15(5), s101, 111, 112, 133, 142 or 137).

The following direct debits on the Council’s account during November were also noted:

Novuna finance 03/11/2025 Council Electric Van Lease 456.20
Lex Autolease 03/11/2025 Council Electric Van Lease 851.98
BT 06/11/2025 WIFI/Telephone HL/TP/BB/HM 385.33
Peninsula 11/11/2025 H&S Service H&S 200.93
Smart Pension Ltd 12/11/2025 Pension payment September Wages 2044.72
Global 4 Comm. 14/11/2025 Office 365/email Office 122.04
SSE Energy 25/11/2025 Gas HM 189.65
SSE Energy 25/11/2025 Gas WH 43.28
SSE Energy 25/11/2025 Gas BB 178.07
SSE Energy 25/11/2025 Gas HL 151.71
Water Plus 27/11/2025 Water charges HL 72.49
BT 27/11/2025 WIFI/Telephone WH 263.60
Utility Warehouse 28/11/2025 Mobile phones Office 56.38
Service Fee Charge 30/11/2025 Service Charge Office 21.30
TOTAL £5037.68

5. To consider any quotes received and authorise or make recommendations to full
Council where appropriate.
None.

6. To consider requests for financial assistance
None received. It was noted that Friends of Westbrook Library have requested to speak to
the council on 14th January with a view to making a request for financial assistance; details
are expected at that meeting.

7. Budget 2025-26: to scrutinise documentation and when satisfied as to correctness to
sign off financial reports and bank reconciliations for November.
The bank reconciliation and budget monitoring pages for November were considered and
accepted. Checks on financial transactions were carried out prior to the meeting by Cllrs
Williams and Watson.

FINANCE/2026/01/4: Resolved to accept the bank reconciliation and budget monitoring
pages for November 2025 (Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 reg 4).

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GREAT SANKEY PARISH COUNCIL
Finance Committee

Minutes of meeting: Tuesday 6th January 2026
Whittle Hall Community Centre

8. To authorise payment of wages, tax and ERNIC for December.
The list of wages to be paid was considered and authorised. Total Employment Costs
(including salaries, pensions & HMRC) were £29,960.

FINANCE/2026/01/5: Resolved to authorise payment of wages and HMRC costs (£29,960
total) for December 2025 (LGA 1972 s112).

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