SAVING OF more than £19,000 have been made by Saddleworth Parish Council after an independent councillor’s in-depth analysis of their income and expenditure.
Robert Knotts’s findings showed 56p in every pound raised by the Parish Council’s precept was being spent on operating and maintaining the Civic Hall in Uppermill.
Measures were put in place to find ways of reducing expenditure and separate studies were implemented to increase income.
The insurance last year cost £6,223 but by introducing a reduced fixed price premium, payments for the next three years is £4,600 – saving £1,623 per annum.
And after employing a consultant, the total rebate between April 1, 2010 and March 31, 2014 is £54,403 whereas the annual charge for the current year is £11,304.
This sees rates expenditure, which increased dramatically in recent years with the extension to the Civic Hall, reduced by an annual figure of £17,427 from April 1 next year.
Cllr Knotts, a former RAF squadron leader from Austerlands, who is now elected chair of the Parish Council’s finance committee, revealed his reductions at a full parish council meeting last month.
He said: “We are trying to make more savings by reducing energy costs and I have other ideas on expenditure reduction.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.