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...on capping council tax for local councils.
The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has published a technical consultation on the 2017/18 local government finance settlement. The consultation closes on Friday 28 October 2016.
The consultation is mainly concerned with those local authorities that receive government funding, but in the detail was the following statement on capping Town and Parish councils;
Council Tax Referendum Principles
• The referendum threshold for council tax increases is proposed at 2 per cent for all local authorities, as in 2016/17. However, shire districts will be allowed increases of up to and including £5, or up to 2 per cent, whichever is higher.
• There will also continue to be an additional adult social care precept of 2 per cent for authorities with responsibility for social care services.
• For the first time, referendum principles will apply to Town and Parish councils for which the Band D charge is higher than £75.46 and the total precept is over £500,000. This would include Trowbridge Town Council.
• However, those Town and Parish councils where a service had been transferred from a local authority would not be subject to the referendum principle, providing certain conditions are satisfied.
• The government is also prepared to consider extending the referendum principles to all Town and Parish councils.
The web site is https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/local-government-finance-settlement-2017-to-2018-technical-consultation
Whilst Hilperton PC is very cost effective, is it not time that the town councils were limited in how much they wring from their residents?