about us

Who are the current Parish Councillors?

Frankie Winrow-Giffin - CHAIR

The New House, Little London Hill, Debenham, IP14 6PN

01728 861085

cllr.frankiewinrow-giffin@debenhamparishcouncil.org

Declaration of interests

 

Katherine Barlow - VICE CHAIR

01728 561800

Cllr.KatherineBarlow@debenhamparishcouncil.org

Declaration of interests (coming soon)

Gina Helm

Contact via the Parish Clerk

cllr.ginahelm@debenhamparishcouncil.org

Declaration of interests (coming soon)

Support to the Parish Council

Mrs Dina Bedwell

Parish Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer

Office hours: Monday, Tuesday and Friday 9.30am to 3.30pm

01473 787861 (messages may be left on answer machine)

Parish.Clerk@debenhamparishcouncil.org

 

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Mrs Deborah Sage

Website editor

07701 303391

d3b0rahsage@gmail.com

If you would like an event or article added to the website, please send this at least one week in advance of publication (we endeavour to publish prior to this). If you are sending imagery/posters etc, please do so as a jpeg. PDFs are more difficult for us to add for accessibility reasons. 

Many thanks

What have you set the precept at for 2022/23?

Accounts: The budget for 2023/2024 was approved in January 2023, with Receipts standing at £107,765 and Payments at £132,157.

Precept: The precept for Debenham is set by the parish council in January each year and has to be approved by Mid Suffolk District Council. The precept provides the parish council with nearly all the money it requires to operate and manage the services it provides in the village, e.g. Public toilets, grass cutting on village green areas, street lights, street cleaning, waste bins etc.

The parish precept forms a small part of your overall ‘Council Tax bill’, equating to about 5% of the total for a band D property.

The amount of council tax paid by each property is determined by two factors:

1. The property valuation ‘Band’, and
2. The ‘Tax Base’ for the parish.

The property bands are shown below for information:

Council Tax Bands
Band	Range of Values	Proportion of Band D
A	Up to and including £40,000	6/9
B	£40,001 - £52,000	7/9
C	£52,001 - £68,000	8/9
D	£68,001 - £88,000	9/9
E	£88,001 - £120,000	11/9
F	£120,001 - £160,000	13/9
G	£160,001 - £320,000	15/9
H	£320,001 or more	18/9

 

The ‘Tax Base’ is a figure that represents the number of ‘Band D’ properties in the parish. Each band A property is counted as 2/3 of a Band D, a band H property is counted as 2 band D properties etc. The tax base is then expressed as x number of band D properties.

This Tax Base figure for Debenham for next tax year 2023 – 24 is 839.58. This Tax Base has increased from last year by 0.8%. This 0.8% increase spreads the cost over more properties which effectively decreases the amount each property has to pay. The tax base increase is fortunate as any decrease in precept is welcomed, although the change this year is negligible. 

As a consequence of the tax base change and the current economic crisis households are facing, the parish council has decided to NOT increase the parish precept this year. The Parish precept for 2023/24 will be £81,338. This will equate to a band D property paying £96.88 per year towards the parish precept. (The same amount as last year)

The parish council felt that increasing the parish precept during the difficult times that households face was not appropriate, so have decided to freeze the precept for next year and adjust its annual expenditure budget accordingly.

 

When do you meet?

The Debenham Parish Council meets every third Monday of the month (except during August) at 7.30pm in Dove Cottage next to the Church in the High Street.

The public are very welcome to attend these meetings and may ask questions during the 10 minute public sessions that are scheduled close to the beginning and end of each Parish Council Meeting.

Open surgeries are held on pre-scheduled Wednesday mornings (approximately every three months) at Dove Cottage where the public has a chance to meet Parish Councillors to discuss matters that may concern them.

Future meeting dates for the remainder of 2022 are published here.

There is also an Annual Parish Meeting, and the public are allowed to participate during this meeting.

 

How do I become a Parish Councillor?

Elections are held every four years. Any householder may put him/herself up for election at that time, or during a term when vacancies occur.  We will detail how you can put your name forward when vacancies arise or there is notification of a local election.

Eligibility criteria and application form

 

What are the responsibilities of the Parish Council?

The Parish Council reviews and sets a budget annually (called the precept) which is levied through Mid Suffolk District Council (in your council tax bill)

The intermediate council between the Parish and County Councils is Mid Suffolk District Council

The Parish Council is allowed by law to provide public conveniences and can prosecute noise makers or litter bugs. The Parish council also maintains the allotments and St Mary's Churchyard and clock, the cemetery and the play areas.

It has the right to be notified of any planning application affecting the area and to make comments to the planning authority.

It assists Suffolk County Council in the maintenance of public footpaths and bridleways and undertakes the maintenance and provision of street lighting.

 

What committees do each Councillor sit on? What responsibilities do they  have?

Details of who sits on which group and committee can be found by clicking here

 

Where can I find more details of the Parish Council meetings and what has been discussed and agreed at them?

Approved meeting minutes are available on this website following approval at the next meeting.

Meeting summaries will (usually) be available shortly after each meeting, and will be published on this website, in the Parish Magazine and displayed on the Parish Notice Board in the High Street.

Future meeting dates are published on the Useful documents & reports page.


Any queries re Parish Council, or requests for Parish Council minutes prior to 2008, can be directed to the Parish Clerk,

Dina Bedwell, 01473 787861, parish.clerk@debenhamparishcouncil.org

Meeting dates, Papers and relevant reports