Costs & fundingHoniton Town Council
East Devon District Council’s table of parish precepts gives Honiton Town Council a 2026/27 precept of £1,000,645 and an average Band D of £243.43, while the council’s own release of 14 January 2026 gives £234, and we haven’t reconciled the two. The same table shows net spending of £1,000k against £667k, a rise of about 49.9% by our arithmetic from rounded figures that we haven’t matched to the council’s papers. At £234 a year a household pays £4.50 a week by our arithmetic. Residents questioned the increase at the Annual Town Meeting on 27 April 2026.
Why might a town council’s costs rise by half in a year, and how would you show the effect on a household? Practise this in AO2 Application.
Interpreting accountsHoniton Show
OpenCharities, which republishes Charity Commission data, gives Honiton and District Agricultural Association, which runs Honiton Show, income of £322,664 and spending of £313,056 for the year to 31 October 2025, a surplus of £9,608 or about 3% of income by our arithmetic. It lists 26 trustees. The aggregator page gives no breakdown of gate receipts, trade stands or sponsorship, and the weather risk isn’t quantified.
A surplus of about 3% leaves little margin. What risks does an outdoor show face, and what would you check in its accounts? Step by step in AO3 Analysis.
Strategy & stakeholdersHoniton Community College sixth form
Honiton Community College’s sixth form closed in August 2025 after the Department for Education approved the change, and the school now teaches ages 11 to 16. In its consultation papers the school’s trust said post-16 cost about £600,000 a year against £297,000 of income, roughly double by our arithmetic, that Year 12 starters fell from 74 in 2013 to 40 in 2023 and none in 2024, and that the average Year 13 class was 7.6. These are the school’s own figures, and the decision has already been made.
Was closing a sixth form that cost about double its income the right decision, and who gains or loses? A real judgement for AO4 Evaluation.
Honiton’s economy in the classroom
Wikipedia gives Honiton 12,154 residents at the 2021 census, but the page doesn’t define the area. A town council, an agricultural show and a school sixth form give students real contexts for costs, accounts and strategy. We tie these themes to topics on the specification.
Sources: Wikipedia, Honiton; East Devon District Council, parish precept table 2026/27; Honiton Town Council, 14 January 2026 release and Annual Town Meeting minutes, 27 April 2026; OpenCharities, Honiton and District Agricultural Association; Devon County Council school notice, February 2025; Honiton Community College consultation papers, 2024. The 49.9%, £4.50, £9,608 and 3% figures are our arithmetic, the Band D figures conflict, and the sixth form figures are the school’s own.
