Finance

As administrator for the Commons Allotments Charity, Great Torrington Town Council has allocated a total of £5,489.99 Grant Funding to local community groups for the 2026 – 2027 financial year. Members also allocated grant funding totalling £27,650 from the precept for 2026/27. A full list of grant recipients can be viewed on the Town Council’s website.

As per last year, Members decided to keep a pot of reserve grant funding to be made available during the period 1st April 2026 – 31st March 2027 for adhoc or urgent requests for funding throughout the year.

Great Torrington Town Council – 2026/2027 Budget

At the January Town Council Meeting Members agreed the budget and the precept for the 2026/27 financial year.  This year there is an increase of 9.92% on the Town Council element of council tax bills for the period 1st April 2026 – 31st March 2027.

The increase of 9.92% equates to an increase of £9.32 per year for a Band A property, £10.88 per year for a Band B, £12.43 per year for Band C, and £13.99 per year for a Band D property compared to last year. These figures relate to the Great Torrington Town Council element of your overall council tax bill only.

The Town Council element of the council tax is the smallest element of the bill, so although the percentage increase is higher than previous years the amount of money it will cost per household for the whole year remains low. The increase reflects a general increase of costs to the council for all services including staffing, health & safety, fuel, rent, IT, buildings maintenance and events. The town council is also incorporating additional spending in this financial year, including CCTV installation & monitoring and the need to move to a new maintenance unit.

Councillors strive to keep the increase as low as possible each year and during financial year 25/26 spent/committed a considerable sum from general reserves to support local organisations and maintain or improve services available to the community. The impact of Local Government Reorganisation is likely to mean that the scope of Town & Parish Councils will change significantly over the next couple of years, and this will mean that costs will increase further, and therefore the current level of reserves needs to be maintained going into the 26/27 financial year to enable the council to prepare for the potential expansion of its service.

Many households in Great Torrington are Band A or B and for those properties the increase is around £10 for the year: this is less than the average takeaway portion for one person and around the same price as a chain-brand takeaway coffee and a sandwich. For a Band D property, the increase is less than £15 for the 12 months, which is around the same price as a single portion of a hotel carvery, a new hardback book or three pints of beer.

Full details of increases for all bands will be available on the Council’s website in due course.