The Annual Report of Hereford City
Council, for the year ended 31st March 2003 is
issued to provide details of its
activities during the year 2001-2002.
The Financial information has, from 1st
April 2000, been produced using the Intuit system
known
as QuickBooks. QuickBooks comprises a complete system including Payroll,
Stock
and Time recording.
District Audit has audited the Council’s
accounts annually until 2000-2001. With effect
from 1st
April 2002 the Audit Commission has introduced a new ‘lighter touch’ audit
regime for local councils. This will affect the
accounts from the year 2001-2002. The Audit Commission have appointed the firm
Winross Hacker Young, from Birmingham, to be the auditors for Hereford city
Council. The basic audit will be carried out under a fixed fee
with additional rates charged for ‘extra work’.
The rights of local electors are not affected
and the
public continue to have the right to inspect the accounts and question the
auditor.
A
notice to this effect is posted on the Town Hall notice board.
The District Auditor has not yet issued his
Certificate in relation to the 1999-2000
accounts, nor to the 2000-2001 accounts, although they have been
audited.
The same
can be said in respect of accounts for 2001-2002 and the new Auditors.
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Hereford City Council |
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Ward |
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1. David Cyril SHORT |
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St. Nicholas |
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Chapel House |
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Kenchester |
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Hereford |
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HR4 7QJ |
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2 Eveline Mary BEW |
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St. Nicholas |
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25 Coleridge Crescent |
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Hereford HR4 0QH |
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3 Basil Cuthbert BALDWIN |
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Central |
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4 Aylestone Grange |
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Hereford HR1 1GZ |
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4 John Walter NEWMAN |
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Belmont |
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26 Marcle Walk |
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Newton Farm |
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Hereford HR2 7TD |
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5 Leslie Mervyn Henson ANDREWS |
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Three Elms |
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Aston Lea |
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Eau Withington |
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Hereford HR1 3NG |
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6 David John FLEET |
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Central |
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19 Eign Road |
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Hereford HR1 2RY |
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7 Clement Allan TUDGE |
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Belmont |
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107 Westfaling Street |
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Hereford HR4 0JE |
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8 Richard THOMAS |
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St. Martins |
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21 Aylestone Hill |
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Hereford HR1 1HR |
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9 Susan ANDREWS |
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Aylestone |
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Aston Lea |
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Eau Withington |
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Hereford HR1 3NG |
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10 W. Ursula ATTFIELD |
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St. Martins |
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1 Redhill Cottages |
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Redhill |
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Hereford HR2 8EA |
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11 Alan WILLIAMS |
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Aylestone |
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12 Gleneagles Road |
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Wentworth Park |
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Hereford |
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12 Peter Derwent EVANS |
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Holmer |
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8 Fayre Oakes Green |
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Kings Acre |
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Hereford HR4 0QT |
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13 Marcelle D. LLOYD-HAYES |
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Tupsley |
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17 Ledbury Road |
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Hereford. HR1 2SY |
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14 Paulina Averil ANDREWS |
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Holmer |
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20 Tower Road |
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Hereford HR4 0LP |
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15 William James WALLING |
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Tupsley |
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37 Pilley Road |
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Hereford HR1 1NB |
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16 Jason HANKINS |
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Three Elms |
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32 Grandstand Road |
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Hereford HR4 9NP |
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17 Richard C. GREEN |
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Hinton |
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Flat 3 St. Martin’s Centre |
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Ross Road |
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Hereford HR2 7RJ |
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18 Aubrey T. OLIVER |
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Hinton |
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117 Hoarwithy Road |
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Hereford |
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HR2 6HD |
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Members of Hereford City Council give
their time freely and receive no allowances or payments for their services to
the City during the financial year.
HEREFORD CITY COUNCIL COST HEADS
Civic/Ceremonial
Hereford City Council owns the ancient
civic property of the City, comprising swords, maces, charters, chains of
office, silver etc., The collection is of considerable value and historic
importance and was revalued this year for insurance purposes.
The
Mayoralty of Hereford is one of the oldest in Britain and dates back to 1382,
before which sheriffs and bailiffs fulfilled the role. The first Charter dates
back to 1189.
This cost head includes such
traditional function costs as The Three Choirs Festival, Three Counties Show,
Twinning, Civic Apparel & Regalia/Insignia, Official Visits/Receptions and
Mayoral Installation.
During the year the Mayor welcomes
visitors from all over the world in addition to the many local visitors.
There have been exchange visits between the City’s twin towns of
Dillenberg in Germany and Vierzon in France in previous years, though none have
occurred during this past year.
In
August 2003 Hereford will be the ‘host’ City to the Three Choirs Festival – a
reserve is being built up over the preceding years to meet the increased
expenditure, which reduces the cost impact during the host year. Similar
arrangements were made in respect of the Three Counties Show although the Civic
presence has not been invited in 2001 or in 2002; it is unsure whether the
future format of the show will include the ‘Civic Procession’ of all the Mayors
and their officers again. A reserve is also kept for 'Twinning' costs in case
major twinning celebrations occur in future years.
A reserve also exists for Special Hereford
Projects and during the past year payments have been made towards the ‘City of
Living Crafts’ project amongst other smaller projects. There is also a
commitment from this reserve (of up to £60,000) towards the ‘Greening Our
Waste’ project that involves the discounted supply of compost bins and other
recycling aids to residents of Hereford City.
Municipal Elections
An unexpected cost during 2000 had to be met
from the General Reserve in respect of the elections for the new Parish
Council. Being held at the same time as the District Elections reduced the cost
to 50%, even so this amounted to almost £17,000 being recharged to the Parish
by Herefordshire. An annual provision is now made in order to build up a
reserve for the 2003 Election costs.
Committee Structure
Council
Planning Committee Finance, Appointments &
Urgent Business Committee
City Cost
Expenditure recharged against the Parish by
Herefordshire Unitary Authority, and included in the initial precept provided
by them, included the following for 2000-2000, which has altered slightly due
to a Service Level Agreement finally being signed between the two authorities.
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2001-2002 £ |
2002-2003 £ |
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Allotments |
Paid direct to Allots.Assosn. |
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Grants/Donations |
20,000 |
20,000 |
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C.C.T.V. |
27,000 |
27,000 |
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Christmas Lights |
22,000 |
22,000 |
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City Centre Manager |
12,000 Paid direct to Hfd.City Partn.Ltd |
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Parks & Open Spaces |
200,000 |
200,000 |
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£281,000 |
£269,000 |
The title to the Allotments (approx. 17acres),
having been confirmed as transferred to the Parish, in 2000, is awaiting a new
agreement to be drawn up between Hereford City Council and The Allotments Association
who manage the allotments.
Herefordshire District Council recharge
…£27,000 towards the BT costs of CCTV , £22,000 towards Herefordshire’s basic
contribution towards the Christmas lights in the City , £20,000 towards their
grants made to Hereford City organizations
and £200,000 towards the cost of the City Parks & Open Spaces cost .
The grant element will cease from 2003 and Hereford City Council will then be
able to make a greater amount available for its own grants & donations.
The contribution (50% of the original City
Centre Manager’s salary) is now paid to the Hereford City Centre Partnership
Ltd., this is towards the employment cost of the Hereford City Promotions &
Development Manager and has been increased to £15,000 from 2002-2003.
A Service
Level Agreements has been drawn up and will run for a period of three years
from 1st April 2002. The payment will be varied in line with the
Retail Price Index for the month prior to the beginning of the relevant
financial year. The Parish expects to work in partnership with the Unitary
Authority to provide enhancements to the duties and responsibilities carried
out by the Unitary Authority within the City of Hereford.
Grants/Donations
The Council
now has the power to make grants to various local organizations.
The amount recharged by Herefordshire District
to Hereford City was expected to cease during 2001-2002: however the
Herefordshire Council was committed to Service Level Agreements with the
charities concerned until 31st march 2003; Hereford City Council,
therefore, continued with its contributions under this cost head.
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£ 2001-2002 |
£ 2002-2003 |
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Age Concern (City element) |
9,550 |
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Coningsby Museum |
450 |
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Deaf Direct (Hereford) |
1,500 |
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Hereford Access Committee |
350 |
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Hereford Cider Museum |
500 |
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HCVYS |
2,500 |
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Hereford Guild of Guides |
250 |
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Hereford Samaritans |
150 |
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Hereford Association for the Blind |
1,500 |
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Hereford Photography Festival |
2,000 |
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Hfd.Citizens Advocacy Now |
750 |
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Hereford Unity Garden |
500 |
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£20,000 |
£20,000 |
Applications
for grants/donations received by Hereford City Council were decided as follows:
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St Peter’s & St.James |
-1,000 provision not taken up. |
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Amateur Athletics & AC |
-500 provision not taken up. |
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Other various small donations |
__645 |
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-£ 855 |
The figure
of £20,000 towards Herefordshire Unitary Authority grants to City organizations
was retained in the SLA as Herefordshire had agreed grants over a fixed period
to the organizations involved – changing this would have upset their
(Herefordshire’s) budgets – up to 31st March 2003. The City Council
had made provision for two grants pending the provision of financial
information to back up their application; since this was not submitted the
grants were not made and the funds have been returned to the General reserve.
Planning
The Parish Council became a
consultative body in respect of plans submitted for Hereford City with effect
from 1st April 2000. The Council submits its observations to Herefordshire
District Council, which then determines the applications. This has required
approximately fortnightly committee meetings, which generate an increased
administration cost ( officer time, stationery etc.,) but provide an important
voice for the citizens of Hereford. The estimated (but not shown)
administrative cost is in the region of £11,000.
Employee Costs
A Town
Clerk was appointed in March 2000 to manage the Civic/Legal affairs of the
Parish; the salaries of the staff are now in accordance with NJC and NALC rates
and conditions of service. Th Clerk and
the Treasurer are paid hourly; The Mayor’s Officer works to a basic 30hr week
which includes unsocial hours due to the Mayoral programme; The Mayor’s
Secretarial post, previously based on a 30hr week but averaging, in practice, a
37hr week, has now been separated into two posts (from March, 2003) – Mayor’s
Secretary (15hr week including unsocial hors) to deal with the Mayoral
programme and attendance at events, and
Town Clerk/Treasurer’s Secretary (20hr week) to deal with
Civic/Ceremonial/Administrative matters. This change will, hopefully, reduce
the amount of overtime ands allow each secretary to concentrate on their
particular duties. The new External Audit arrangements have entailed the employment
of an Internal Auditor in 2002-2003. This new post is part-time and has been
filled by a person with years of experience both as an internal audit chief and
as a chief accountant in local government; Time involved is not expected to
take up more than 5 hours in the year.
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Structure 2002-2003 |
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Town Clerk – M D Fellows (P/T –approx 8hrs/week) |
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Treasurer –D V
Piears (P/T –20/25 hrs/week) |
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Mayor’s Secretary -Mrs. B M Fresle (Based on30 hrs/week) |
Mayor’s Officer - R W
Stokes (Based on 30hrs/week) |
These 2 officers have been paid o/time for work in excess of 37-hrs.per week. |
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Liveried Officers |
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(8 paid £15 per attendance |
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Premises
The accommodation rents amount to £8,240 per
annum. Accommodation comprises Offices (Flats 1 & 2), the Mayoral Parlours
and the Vaults at the Town Hall.
HEREFORD
CITY COUNCIL
The expenditure of the authority is met by
levying a precept on the Unitary Authority. The first year precept of the
Charter Trustees (1998/1999) and the first year precept of the new Parish
(2000/2001) were decided by the Unitary authority and amounted to £86,550 and
£490,900 respectively. The additional figure amounted approximately to the
special ‘City Rate’ imposed on the City by Herefordshire. Analysis of the
precept over the Expenditure estimates is as follows: -
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Charter Trustees |
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Hereford City Council |
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1998-1999 |
1999-2000 |
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2000-2001 |
2001-2002 |
2002-2003 |
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£ |
£ |
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£ |
£ |
£ |
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86,550 |
90,900 |
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90,900 |
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Additional |
400,000 |
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Total |
490,900 |
475,000 |
472,000 |
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Analysed as |
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18,130 |
Civic Ceremonial |
9,380 |
19,630 |
18,336 |
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36,540 |
Employees |
54,550 |
63,000 |
79,500 |
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9,070 |
Mayoral |
10,220 |
10,940 |
11,280 |
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8,480 |
Premises |
10,240 |
10,450 |
10,490 |
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13,730 |
Supplies/Services/Admin. |
13,310 |
13,290 |
13,871 |
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4,950 |
Transport |
5,200 |
9,310 |
5,935 |
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90,900 |
City Centre Partnership |
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15,000 |
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Allotments |
10,000 |
10,000 |
10,000 |
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Grants/Donations |
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9,000 |
1,000 |
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HCC Web pages |
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2,000 |
1,000 |
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Hereford In Bloom |
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12,000 |
8,000 |
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Municipal Elections |
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