With more than £300,000 held in reserves last year and a £200,000 payout from Schedule III in December 2025 (the Freemen Trust annual payment), Berwick Town Council has voted to raise the Precept by 28% this year with a second similar rise next year.
As well as funding from the Precept (added to council tax bills every year) Berwick Town Council receives an annual paymenet from the Freement Trust. [See Berwick public funds explained]
Residents have expressed misgivings about the raise citing concerns that a further £140,000 over the next two years will be taken from the commercial economy. [See Letters]
The justification for the rise came from Mayor Cllr John Robertson who told councillors in December that the annual Schedule III payment was in jeopardy and may not be paid out in future years.
‘There is a risk, a big risk,’ explained the Mayor, ‘that there may come a day when we don’t get any Schedule III money at all and we have to prepare for that day.’
But a Freemen Trust spokesman told The Bridge: ‘There is no substance or truth to such an assertion by the Mayor.’
The Mayor’s assertion was backed up by Deputy Mayor, Cllr Rosemary Mckenzie, who stated: ‘It’s important we don’t rely on Schedule III money for running the Council as it’s always variable. The Budget & Administration working group started the process to reduce reliance on Schedule III money. It is a very sensible decision.’
Councillors were not given, nor did they request, evidence of the supposed threat to funds. Only Cllr Catherine Seymour questioned why there would suddenly be non-payment when the monies have been paid by the Freemen Trust ‘for decades’.
A pay-out of £199,769 was received into Town Council accounts compared to £147,000 in 2024. The 2025 figure is amongst the highest ever paid out by the Freemen Trust.
Council heard that the figure of £140,000 as the basis for the rise in Precept over two years was an arbitrary one; ‘the guesstimate for how much the precept would be’ according to the Mayor and the Chief Officer.
This is the amount now being used to calculate spending over the next two years to justify the Precept increase which councillors have decided that taxpayers will cover.
The Freemen Trust is made up of ten Trustees comprising five Freemen and five Town Councillors who are legally responsible for all Schedule 3 matters. The Bridge approached all three Berwick County Councillors for comment, given that NCC has to approve the rise in local taxes. Only Cllr Isabel Hunter (Berwick West with Ord) replied.
‘I am concerned at the level of increase of precept, yes it might be for projects, however, in my personally opinion representing residents in Berwick West with Ord my residents would be saying what benefits will be seen in Prior Park Estate and Shielfield area,’ said Cllr Hunter.
‘I appreciate the woodland walk between Prior Park Estate and Shielfield Terrace may be one of the projects, however, the majority of the projects are town centre based.
‘I would be interested to know what the current position is on the 2025/26 projects.’
Berwick Town Council has announced the increase for 2026/27 as:
“Band A: £93.30 per year (about £1.79 per week)
Band B: £108.85 per year (about £2.09 per week)
Band C: £124.40 per year (about £2.39 per week)
Band D: £139.95 per year (about £2.69 per week)”; was £109.54 for 2025/26 = increase of £30.40 or 28%
The same increase was voted through for the next financial year 2026/27.
It was not made clear whether that will be calculated from the same base-level or the higher amount now introduced for 2025-26.
The Town Council states that ‘backing our community and improving the town’ will entail the following additional expenditure:
Salmon Queen (80th year) – £20,000
Playground resurface – £10,000
Play equipment replacement – £50,000
£10,000 – already earmarked for the pump track in Ancroft parish
Market promotion – £20,000
Cllr Philip Rowe explained the breakdown:
£4,000 mobile lighting rig for Quayside as well as Buttermarket,
£6,000 general updating the Buttermarket to hold markets
£2,000-3,000 for additional promotion via VisitBerwick
£5,000 Contingency
£2,000 to refurbish the phone box on Hide Hill
A total of £110,000. These are the items chosen after several items were listed and councillors were required to put their priority projects. The final selection was made in a private discussion between officers.
Cllr Seymour pointed out at the Council meeting that the phone box on Hide Hill was not the property of the Town Council and that it is in working order. Cllr Rowe stated the phone box – which is located opposite Cllr Rowe’s gallery Jackal on Hide Hill – was due to be decommissioned in April.
BT confirmed to The Bridge that they do own the phone box, that it is still working, and that they are due to send engineers to refurbish, the costs of which are borne by BT.
Below for comparison are the annual figures submitted by Berwick Town Council over the last three years as part of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR). It is a mandatory, statutory set of documents that town, parish, and community councils in England and Wales must complete and submit each year to summarise their financial activities and governance at the end of the financial year.
The document has to be published by law and appears on the Town Council website and in the Council office window. It corresponds with a period of several weeks public access to the accounts of the Town Council usually in July/August.