Annual financial report 2003-04

During the year 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004, the Council spent about £44 million - nearly £4 million less than in the previous year.

General Fund (gross spending inc. housing revenue spending)   £41,134,000

Major developments spending   £2,527,000

Total spending   £43,661,000

General Fund

Spending on services    £41,134,000

Income from fees etc    (£26,952,000)

Capital costs and other adjustments    (£2,553,000)

Total net spending    £11,629,000

Overall spending on General Fund services was just over £ million. Net expenditure after income has been received was as follows:

2003-04 Spending

Central services to the public (Elections, council tax collection)   £397,000

Cultural, environmental and planning services (Cemeteries, environmental health, street cleansing, planning, leisure, refuse collection)    £8,833,000

Highways, roads and transport services (Car parks, concessionary bus fares)    £380,000

Housing services (Housing benefits, homelessness)    £3,218,000

Corporate and democratic core (Strategic management of the Council)   £1,178,000

Unapportionable central overheads (Costs not attributable to services)    £198,000

Capital costs and other adjustments (Income, representing the value of property that we own)    (£2,533,000)

Interest (Interest from money invested)    (£562,000)

Total    £11,629,000

Paid for by

Council tax    £5,388,000

Business rates    £4,134,000

Government grant    £2,217,000

Less put into reserves    (£110,000)

Total    £11,269,000

Capital spending on major developments - 2003/04

Home improvement grants    £833,000

Computer projects    £630,000

Leisure facilities    £344,000

Sewerage schemes    £206,000

Offices and depots    £49,000

Highways and car parks    £110,000

Other    £355,000

Total    £2,527,000

Paid for by:

Sale of assets    £2,212,000

Grants    £906,000

Other    (£591,000)

Total    £2,257,000

Reserves

Like similar organisations, the Council needs to ensure that its reserves are adequate to tide us over in the coming years. At the close of the 2003-04 financial year, our reserves were as follows:

General Fund    £1,175,000

Other funds    £1,539,000

Total    £2,714,000

Spotlight on your council tax

Your council tax last year paid for the services provided by Wiltshire County Council, Wiltshire Police Authority and your parish/town council, as well as the District Council.

The breakdown of each bill was as follows:

Wiltshire County Council - 75.6%

West Wiltshire District Council - 10.5%

Wiltshire Police Authority - 9.8%

Parish/town council (average) - 4.1%

For the average taxpayer in a Band D property, the amount paid to each authority was:

Wiltshire County Council - £845.26

West Wiltshire District Council - £117.11

Wiltshire Police Authority - £109.68

Parish/town council (average) - £46.16

Total - £1,118.21

In Trowbridge, the District Council charged an additional £12.30 for the town museum. The average town/parish charge.

Further Information

Full details of the Council’s financial position and budget information can be found in the booklet ‘The 2003-04 Final Accounts’. This summary is presented in accordance with Best Accounting Practice. (The 'Final Accounts' publication is a pdf file and will open in a new window). Information on the Council's Audit and Inspection letter is also available.

To view pdf files you need Acrobat Reader which is freely available to download from the Adobe website. If you do not already have this on your PC please click the icon below.

Information on the other organisations for which the Council collects revenue is available on their websites, as follows:

Wiltshire County Council - www.wiltshire.gov.uk

Police - www.wiltshire.police.uk

Fire - www.wfb.org.uk

Contact Us

If you have any questions, please contact the Finance Department - telephone 01225 776655 or e-mail sharding@westwiltshire.gov.uk

This summary is presented in accordance with Best Accounting Practice, for further details please visit the CIPFA website.

For information the Council's planned spending for the year 2004/ 2005 please refer to the Performance Plan.