Frome Town Council has approved a 6.6% increase in its precept – the portion of council tax paid by residents to fund the town council’s services – for the 2025/26 budget.
Residents in Band D properties will see an increase of 35p per week. However, 76% of households in Frome will see a smaller increase, as they are in Bands A to C.
The majority of councillors agreed to this increase at the full town council meeting on Wednesday 15th January, resulting in a precept of £2,777,932 for the 2025/2026 year.
The majority also approved a total budget of £3,678,543 for 2025/2026, which includes planned expenditure across staffing, community projects, and other council services. They also agreed to the work programme, which outlines how the budget will be spent.
However, when it came to the vote, some councillors expressed concerns about the rise in the precept, particularly following last year’s significant 29% increase to support the town council in taking on certain assets and services from Somerset Council.
Cllr Nick Dove objected to this year’s increase, stating that ‘not enough’ had been done to explore potential savings. He also raised concerns that councillors are not given sufficient information about the costs of individual initiatives. He said, “I am not convinced that we have looked deeply enough at savings within our workforce, which represents a huge amount of money, before we go out and ask the public again, after last year’s significant demand for a precept increase, if we want to do the same again.”
Cllr Lisa Merryweather also expressed concern about the impact of the rise on residents. “Although it seemingly looks like a small increase for some families, this is going to be an issue,” she said.
However, when presenting the new work programme lead councillor Steve Tanner said it was ‘flexible’ and could be changed if it needed to be as the year progresses, particularly as councillors were agreeing ‘in principle’ to some areas of the programme that are yet to be finalised.
These areas included the Welcome Hub for displaced people, elements of the Devolution Deal which are still to be agreed on with Somerset Council and other uncertainties for future decision and staff.
Staffing
50% of the budget, £1.7 million, has been allocated to staffing. The town council’s clerk, Paul Wynne, said that the town council currently employs 43 staff members—23 part-time and 21 full-time—and is proposing to hire additional staff, including a town centre officer, two rangers, and an HR/business administrator.
However, he said that the oversight committee will consider a business case for each post and decide whether it wants to go forward with this. If not, the reserved funds will be put towards other projects.
Cllr Tanner said, “We have worked hard to keep the percentage at 6.6%, mindful that there are some people in Frome who are struggling. This budget is designed to protect what is important, to purposefully put measures in place both to support residents and community organisations, to embrace devolution and to protect our environment and our biodiversity.”
