Criticism as district council 'pockets' parish council funds
Parish councils could be forced to make savings and cut services - on top of the £11m of savings that the Conservative-controlled council seeks to find over the next three years - owing to a lack of clarity over a Government grant.
Last year, West Berkshire Council received £258,000 from the Government to distribute between parishes to make up for the lack of revenue in parish precepts when changes to local council tax benefits were adopted last year.
This year, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has said that the parish council funds will form part of the money paid to district councils but would not be ringfenced for the parishes.
However, the council has written to parishes asking them to consider raising their precept, cutting services or both
Council spokesman, Keith Ulyatt, said: “As has been well publicised, overall government support for councils is reducing. As we said last year and have stated clearly this year, the payment made last year will not be repeated. We have made parishes and towns aware of this, so they can plan their budgets accordingly.”
The decision could have far reaching consequences for Newbury Town Council which faces a £90,000 hole in its budget.
And at a recent town council meeting, district councillor and town council leader Julian Swift-Hook (Lib Dem, Pyle Hill) accused West Berkshire Council of pocketing money meant for parishes.
He said: “West Berkshire Council has chosen to interpret this to mean that the grant money is theirs to spend as they wish, and it has said that it wishes to not spend it by passing it on to parish and town councils..... They will still be receiving the money from the Government so they’re essentially pocketing it.”
Funding for allotments, burials, bus shelters, markets and public open spaces in the town could be cut as the town council undertakes a full review of the services it provides and the staffing levels required to fulfil them.
Mr Swift-Hook said that although negotiations were taking place regarding the ongoing dispute over the Government grant, “everything was on the table”.
He said: “In the face of such a massive cut in our funding, we have to look in detail at every single item of [town] council expenditdure, and consider how it can be reduced or eliminated”.
The lack of clarity over West Berkshire’s financial dilemma has led the town council to stall the declaration of its precept until one week after the deadline.
The issue was discussed at a West Berkshire Council meeting last week.
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