Village Council Finance – 2025/26
The Council has taken the difficult decision to increase the precept for the year ahead.
In Oxenhope for a home in Band D, the 2025/26 local precept will add £75 per year, or £6.25 per month, to the Council Tax bill.
In numerical terms this is an annual increase of £22.26 (or less than an extra 43 pence per week) over last year’s local precept.
By comparison, whilst Bradford’s Council Tax increase appears smaller when expressed as a percentage (at 9.99%), it amounts to an additional £170.02 per annum for a home in Band D (or an extra £3.27 per week).
In Oxenhope the local precept increase is forecast to generate additional annual income of £24,000 which will enable the Village Council to fund increases in running costs and to continue to invest in projects, maintenance and improvements across the village.
In recent years the village Council has relied on reserve balances to subsidise expenditure (by £11,000 in 2024/25). This not a sustainable approach and the Village Council’s reserves are now below recommended minimum levels. The inability to continue to rely on the use of reserves, along with cost-of-living and running cost increases, has contributed to the precept change in 2025/26.
The Village Council’s budgeted expenditure for 2025/26 is £75,975, which is an increase of £8,028 from last year. Details of the budget are available on this page and additional information or explanation is available on request (at our monthly meetings or by email to clerk@oxenhopevillagecouncil.gov.uk).
For information, the average parish precept per Band D property in England for 2024/25 was £85.88.
