Burton Bradstock Parish Council

Burton Bradstock Parish Council

Graveyard Maintenance

Report to 6th April PC Meeting

Background and the Legal Position

On 14 February the Parochial Church Council (PCC) wrote requesting the PC to make its “accustomed contribution” (£1,500) towards the costs of grass cutting and maintenance of the Parish burial grounds. At its meeting on the 16^th February the PC requested a report setting out the background to the issue, including the legal position.

The PC has been making an annual contribution of £1,500 to the PCC’s costs as above for several years. Following discussions it is apparent that some Councillors believed that the contribution was a statutory one. Additionally, as noted at the February PC meeting, a former PC Chairman noted his understanding that the contribution was made because if the PCC did not provide burial grounds for the Parish then the PC would have to do so.

On researching the legal issues and seeking advice from DAPTC, the position is that the PC is a Burial Authority, enabling it to provide burial grounds, but this is a power and not a duty. Furthermore, on closing a burial ground, while the PCC can request that the PC takes over its maintenance, the PC can decline and pass the responsibility on to the District Council.

While if there were no burial grounds available to Parishioners, the PC would doubtless wish to consider the position, it is apparent that there is no obligation on the PC to either maintain or provide Parish burial grounds now or in the future.

Discussion and Options

It has been suggested that if there is no legal obligation to make a contribution, then the PCC’s application should be treated similarly to a request for grant aid. In these circumstances the PC would consider the benefit that would accrue to the Parish, which is obvious, together with the applicant’s financial position and, where significant works are involved, a condition of any grant would be that the works were procured competitively using an approach similar to the PC’s.

The PCC has helpfully provided a copy of their latest accounts, which are in the public domain, and are reproduced at Appendix 1. The accounts show that at the end of 2010 the PCC had unrestricted reserves in excess of £42,000 available to it (£59,000 in 2009), and that during that year it spend some £7,338 on graveyard/ burial ground maintenance (£9,999 in 2009), including £3,600 for grass cutting.

It is apparent that the PCC does not need any contribution from the PC for it to be able to afford to continue with the maintenance and grass cutting operations, at least in the short term.

It was noted at F&GP Committee that the grass cutting cost appears high compared with the prices achieved by the PC through competitive tendering, but discussion with the PCC on this issue would only follow if the PC decides to make a contribution.

The options appear to us to be:

· To make the “accustomed contribution” or a reduced one, provided that the PCC procured its services through a competitive process similar to the PC's. .

· In view of the resources available to the PCC, to not make any contribution this year but to note that the PC would reconsider the matter should the PCC cease to be able to fund the works.

It has also been commented upon that neither the churchyard nor the Shipton Lane burial ground is maintained in sympathy with the PC’s environmental/ wildlife policies, and that under the PC’s Parish Plan objectives the PC might approach the PCC to explore the possibility of its adopting the “living churchyard” approach that is promoted by the Dorset Wildlife Trust and has been implemented elsewhere in the County. If the PCC were to decide to pursue a “living churchyard” approach, the PC could consider contribution towards the costs involved.

Recommendations

To decide how much if any contribution should be made to the PCC and any conditions to be attached thereto.

To decide whether to approach the PCC in relation to a “living churchyard” approach being adopted for either the St Mary’s churchyard or the Shipton Lane burial ground.

Councillors D Batten & G Moody

Burton Bradstock Parish Council

3 April 2011

Appendix 1

General Fund PCC of Burton Bradstock			St Mary's
			2010	2009
see note 12			see note 12
	Receipts
1	Planned Giving		£16,438	£16,091
1	Planned Giving 10% received for charity see note 9		£921	£894
3a	Gift Aid occasional.		£1,747	£2,100
3b	Cash collections		£3,978	£4,290
5a	Unrestricted Donations See note 11		£1,777	£3,429
5a	Burton Bradstock Festival General in 2010 (Fabric in 2009)		£375
5c	Restricted Donations for charities see note 6			£704
6	All tax recovered through Gift Aid		£5,465	£5,703
9	Fund raising for restricted charities see note 6			£1,786
10	Interest		£174	£660
11	Fees		£1,368	£3,320
12	Sales		£236	£74
13	Other Receipts		______	______
	TOTAL RECEIPTS		£32,478	£39,051

	Payments
18	Donations to charities from PCC funds see note 8		£3,221	£3,000
18	Mission Giving / Donations to charities see note 7 & 9		£921	£3,764
19	90% Diocesan Parish Share/Quota paid see Chilcombe		£23,736	£25,032
20	Salaries, wages and honoraria inc organists		£1,322	£1,318
21	Expenses (of clergy, staff,)		£1,655	£1,611
22	Local Mission and Evangelism Projects See note 10		£199	£307
23a	Churchyard & Cemetery see note 11		£7,338	£9,999
23b	Printing & Stationery for Church		£436	£534
23c	Altar & Church Running Expenses See note 5		£2,676	£702
23d	Insurance		£2,234	£2,230
23e	Church Minor Repairs		£360	£368
24	Church Utility Bills		£3,286	£3,424
26	Governance Costs		£13	£18
27	Major repairs to Church (09 cost is Electrical work in 08)		______	£1,052
	TOTAL PAYMENTS		£47,395	£53,358
Excess (-shortfall) of receipts over payments			-£14,917	-£14,307
Transfer Returned from Fabric Fund for Communion Set			£500
Transfer Mission Fund to General Fund			£0	£274
Transfer to Dedicated Fund for Rectory Redecoration amount equal to Easter collection
			-£420
			-£14,837	-£14,033
Bank current account 1 January		£3,693		£10,386
CBF deposit account 1 January		£36,479	______	£43,819
			£40,172	£54,205
Bank current account 31 December		£4,101		£3,693
CBF deposit a/c 31 Dec less £420 Rectory Redecoration		£21,234	______	£36,479
			£25,335	£40,172

General Fund PCC of Burton Bradstock			Chilcombe
			2010	2009
	Receipts
3b	Cash collections		£318	£238
10	Interest		£85	£275
11	Fees
13	Other Receipts		______	______
	TOTAL RECEIPTS		£404	£514
	Payments
19	10% Diocesan Parish Share/Quota paid		£2,637	£1,317
23c	Altar & Church Running Expenses Chubb Extinguisher			£57
23d	Insurance See Fabric Account
23e	Church Minor Repairs
24	Church Utility Bills (inc. refund of £292 in 2009)		£120	£92
	TOTAL PAYMENTS		£2,757	£1,466
Excess (-shortfall) of receipts over payments			-£2,353	-£952
Transfers Chilcombe Fabric to General fabric costs & insurance.				£1,361
			-£2,353	£409
Bank current account 1 January		£1,655		£522
CBF deposit account 1 January		£17,596		£18,321
			£19,251	£18,842
Bank current account 31 December		£716		£1,655
CBF deposit account 31 December		£16,181		£17,596
		£16,897	£16,897	£19,251
Fabric Restricted Fund St Mary's
	Receipts		2010	2009
3a	Gift Aid occasional Fete Wall box		£0	£10
5b	Restricted Donations St Mary's Fabric Wall safe		£279	£358
5b	Restricted Donations Fete St Mary's Fabric Wall safe		£140	£53
5b	Restricted Donations Fete St Mary's Fabric Fundraising		£6,047	£6,682
5b	Restricted Donations St Mary's Fabric		£475	£1,437
5b	Burton Bradstock Festival General in 2010 Fabric in 2009			£350
5b	Dorset Historic Churches Cycle Ride		£77	£50
7	Legacies Received		£0	£0
	Other receipts		£0	£0
	see note in 2008 accounts
10	Interest		£188	£440
	TOTAL RECEIPTS		£7,205	£9,370
	Payments
27	Major repairs and redecoration to the Church		£0	£0
	Other payments		£0	£0
	TOTAL PAYMENTS		£0	£0
Excess (-shortfall) of receipts over payments			£7,205	£9,370
Transfer to General Account for Travelling Communion Set.			-£500
			£6,705
CBF deposit 634365005D 1 January less Rectory Redecoration			£36,707	£27,337
CBF deposit 634365005D 31 Dec less Rectory Redecoration			£43,412	£36,707
Rectory Redecoration Restricted Fund			2010	2009
	Receipts
3b	TOTAL RECEIPTS		£0	£0
	Payments		£0	£0
Excess (-shortfall) of receipts over payments			£0	£0
CBF deposit account 1 January			£812	£812
CBF deposit account 31 December			£812	£812
The Fabric Fund and Rectory Decoration Fund are both in the same CBF Account

St Mary's Administration Restricted Fund			2010	2009
	Interest received		£151	£446
	TOTAL RECEIPTS		£151	£446
	Payments		£0	£0
Excess (-shortfall) of receipts over payments			£151	£446

CBF deposit account 1 January			£29,730	£29,284
CBF deposit account 31 December			£29,881	£29,730

St Mary's Mission Restricted Fund			2010	2009
	Receipts
	Total donations received		£0	£0
	Interest received		£0	£3
	TOTAL RECEIPTS		£0	£3

	Payments		£0	£0
Excess (-shortfall) of receipts over payments			£0	£3
Transfer to General Current Account for distribution in 2009				-£274
			£0	-£271
CBF deposit account 1 January			£3	£274
CBF deposit account 31 December			£3	£3

Chilcombe Fabric Restricted Fund			2010	2009
	Interest received		£57	£199
	TOTAL RECEIPTS		£57	£199
	Payments
	Insurance		£748	£744
Excess (-shortfall) of receipts over payments			-£691	-£545
Transfers from Chilcombe Fabric for 2008 costs & insurance.				-£1,361
				-£1,906
CBF deposit account 1 January			£11,598	£13,504
CBF deposit account 31 December			£10,907	£11,598
Statement of Assets & Liabilities
St Mary's with Chilcombe General Fund			£42,233
Rectory Redecoration Designated General Fund			£420
Total General Funds represented by			£42,652	£59,423
St Mary's Current Account			£4,101	£3,693
Chilcombe Current Account			£716	£1,655
St Mary's CBF Unrestricted General Account 634365001D			£21,654	£36,479
Chilcombe CBF Unrestricted General Deposit Account 634365006D			£16,181	£17,596
Total St Mary's with Chilcombe General Funds			£42,652	£59,423
We will receive a tax refund of £5,000 in 2011 for money gift aided in 2010

St Mary's Restricted Fabric Fund			£43,412	£36,707
St Mary's Restricted rectory Decoration Fund			£812	£812
Represented by St Mary's CBF Fabric Fund 634365005D			£44,224	£37,519

St Mary's CBF Restricted Administration Fund 634365003D			£29,881	£29,730

St Mary's CBF Restricted Mission Fund 634365004D			£3	£3

Chilcombe CBF Restricted Fabric Fund 634365002D			£10,907	£11,598

Total of all Restricted Accounts			£85,016	£78,851
Total of all accounts			£127,668	£138,274
Total excess (-shortfall) receipts over payments all accounts			-£10,606	-£5,984
Interest all accounts			£655	£2,024
Total receipts all accounts			£40,295	£49,583
Total payments all accounts			£50,901	£55,567
The following notes 1 to 12 form part of these financial statements.
Approved by the PCC on and signed on their behalf by


	Chairman	Treasurer
NOTES
1	Reserves Policy.
	We are fortunate in having general reserves equivalent to over 10 month's expenditure.
	Our situation as a Charity impels us to be prudent with our reserves but not to carry more than
	we need in our general reserve account. We plan to reduce our general reserves to 9 months'
	expenditure. We are requesting incoming giving where possible to the St Mary's Fabric fund which
	has been depleted by expenditure on the church.
	Our reserves enable us to make donations from church funds to our Mission Partners and to carry
	out improvements to the church. Our charitable status improves our receipts by about £6,000
2	The financial statements of the PCC have been prepared in accordance with the Church
	Accounting Regulations 2006 using the Receipts and Payments Basis.
3	The following assets are recognized but not necessarily valued in the Statement as Assets
	and Liabilities: Movable church furnishings held by the church wardens on special trust for the
	PCC and which require a faculty for disposal.
4	The expenses paid to clergy and others may include a small immaterial proportion, which relates
	to their function as PCC members. No other payments were made to PCC members.
5	Church Running Expenses 23c include £618 for bell ropes, £541 for a travelling Communion Set
	and £649 for a Peavey 3000 amplifier.
6	Charitable Receipts direct for charities not included in the accounts in 2010
02/01/00	Sales for Mission	£362
06/01/00	Lent Lunches	£638
02/01/00	Cream Teas for Mission	£355
	Anonymous donations received	£183
Half for Farm Africa & half for CUF from Mission Committee		£1,538	£1,538
24/01/10	Donations Haiti		£269
16/05/10	Plant Sale Red House Bible Soc. & CMS		£214
06/06/10	CUF Collection		£128
28/06/10	Anonymous donation for CUF		£80
04/07/10	Farm Africa retiring collection		£166
08/08/10	Collection for CMS A & S Hart		£119
19/09/10	RAF Collection		£318
01/10/10	Plum Sale CUF & Farm Africa		£78
07/11/10	Bible Society Donation		£52
14/11/10	British Legion Collection		£319
05/12/10	CUF Donation (Staggs)		£50
10/12/10	Christingle for Children's Society		£68
Total Charitable Receipts			£3,399
7	Payments made from charitable receipts not included in the accounts in 2010.
	Bible Society		£159
24/11/10	British Legion		£319
12/12/10	Children's Society		£68
	CMS		£226
	CUF		£1,066
	Farm Africa		£974
27/01/10	Haiti Donation		£269
30/09/10	RAF Association		£318
Total Charitable Payments made from charitable receipts			£3,399
8	Charitable payments made from Church reserves
04/05/10	Friends of Salisbury Cathedral		£5
10/06/10	For Chesil Court trip out.		£30
10/06/10	Age Concern		£20
03/12/10	CUF from Harvest supper 50% of (£187.55- £50.00)		£69
04/07/10	Farm Africa Speaker's expenses donated to Farm Africa		£97
12/08/10	Salisbury DBF Medi-link		£1,500
12/08/10	CMS		£1,500
			£3,221
9	Charitable payments made from 10% tithed Regular Giving.
30/12/10	CMS		£460
30/12/10	Salisbury DBF Medi-link		£460
			£921
There have also been collections in cash (total £1,122; Leonard Cheshire Homes £214, Bible Society £332
Alzheimer's Society £160, S & D Air Ambulance £218, Royal British Legion £197,
S & D Air Ambulance £218, Royal British Legion £197, Bible Society £332) paid direct to representatives
of the charities and profits from the Fair Trade stall which are not part of these financial statements.
10	Local mission activity is any local activity showing the church in the community, mainly hall hire
11	Churchyard & Cemetery Expenditure -Customary contribution £1500 of Civil Parish received in 2009
	Jay Stevenson Tree Surgeon Pruning Trees Shipton Lane		£485
	P Parsons Strip & Refit Shed Roof		£141
	Parsons G Cemetery Hedge & Weeds		£220
	M Parsons Paint Railings		£2,880
	Total work to churchyard & cemetery		£3,726	£5,859
	Grass cutting G Parsons		£3,600	£3,600
	Additional pruning			£445
	weed killer		£12	£12
	lawnmower parts			£83
			£7,338	£9,999
12	The marginal numbers are C of E cost codes & All figures are rounded to the nearest pound