Purple shop has Henley councillors seeing red

THE proprietor of Henley's controversial "purple shop" addressed councillors at a meeting of the parish council on Monday night, claiming the last thing he wanted to do was become alienated from the community.

Zak Miah, 'who runs Bespoke Curtains and Blinds of Henley, took his opportunity during the public participation session of Beaudesert and Henley Joint Parish Council to give his side of the story after hearing about a number of complaints being made about his shop at previous council meetings. He even offered to change the colour of the shop if needs be.

Mr Miah said: "We don't want to alienate ourselves from the community. That is the main reason I am here tonight. From the moment we opened in May we have had a problem with signage. We are dwarfed by Somerfield and One Stop. Their frontages are 24ft and we are just 12ft. We changed the colour of the shop to make it a bit more prominent to get it noticed. Every other business in that unit has not succeeded because it is a very small shop front.

"It is distressing for us to find out about the opposition to the colour of the shop.

"We are more than happy to change the colour if you are unhappy. If we haven't got you on board with us we are fighting a losing battle."

Cllr Carsina Goodman stood firm in her opposition to the shop despite Mr Miah's pleas. She said: "You are right opposite listed buildings. It would have been nice if you had come before the council to ask what you could do."

Mr Miah explained that he had spoken to the court leet when he had first arrived and they had even agreed to open the shop. He said he had not been aware of the parish council.

He said he had outlined to Stratford District Council what they had wanted to do and his landlord had also agreed to the plans.

"If your landlord is telling you it is fine, the person you pay the rent to, you think it must be fine," he added.

This was still not explanation enough for Cllr Mrs Goodman who retorted: "You have put awful things outside." In reference to the choice of signage which incorporates a cut-out curtain around the shop window.

Cllr David Hadley said he would rather have a shop than an empty shop.

He continued that younger proprietors were coming into the town and there had been a whole stream of criticism as a result, from the choice of umbrellas at the Bluebell pub to the frontage of Studio 34.

"The job of the parish council is to compromise. I think we can live with the signs if you change the colour."

CUr George Matheou said the parish council should not be in the business of telling local shops how to market themselves.

Cllr Bill Leech said that the frontage of One Stops Somerfield and the fish and chip shop were far less in keeping with the conservation area.

All councillors agreed that a meeting should be set up with representatives from the planning department and conservation department at the district council, parish council chairman Cllr Les Goodman, Cllr Roger Hubbocks and Mr Miah.

It was also agreed that moves should be made for a letter to be sent out to new businesses in the town urging them to beware of the constraints of the conservation area.

Once the proprietor of Bespoke Curtains and Blinds had retired from the meeting, Cllr Mrs C Goodman chose a slightly different way to sum up the discussion: "If you don't like it, clear off."

Report by Philippa Mingins - Stratford Herald - 10th December 2009

Misleading Information about Grants

Unfortunately the JPC's own website, shown below, is one year out of date. The application form shows the parish clerk as Karen Parnell and the download criteria shows the parish clerk as RP Hill, both of whom left last year!

As a direct result of an article in Henley NEWS On-line, the errors above were swiftly corrected.

JPC Registers Trade Mark

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO), formerly The Patents Office, has published details on its website of the Joint Parish Council's application for Trade Mark protection of its new logo. To view the full details of this application.

Trade Marks are usually registered to protect different brands of products, such as soap. There are around 8,350 parish councils and a search of the Trade Mark register did not find another parish council which had registered a trademark.

This seal was originally used by the Guild of Holy Trinity & St John, which later became part of the Court Leet. Henley adapted it at a later date. When this example of the seal was made in the 15th century, it had the inscription on it which states that it was the borough (or burgesses) of Henley. Any document sent out by the town would contain a wax seal. Unfortunately, the seal matrix for making the imprint has not survived.

There is now a period of 2 months for the IPO to receive observations from members of the public. Any observations should be sent to: UK Intellectual Property Office, Trade Marks Registry, Tribunal Section, Cardiff Road, Newport NP10 8QQ, quoting reference: Trade Mark 2522951.

One of our readers has told Henley NEWS On-line that the new logo resembles a Pontefract cake, shown left. Pontefract cakes (also known as Pomfret cakes and Pomfrey cakes) are a type of small, roughly circular black sweet measuring approximately 2 cm in diameter and 4 mm thick, made of liquorice, originally manufactured in the Yorkshire town of Pontefract, England.

The original name for these small tablets of liquorice is a "Pomfret" cake, after the old Norman name for Pontefract. However,that name has fallen into disuse and they are now almost invariably labelled "Pontefract cakes". Originally, the sweets were embossed by hand with a stamp, to form their traditional look, but now they are usually machinery formed. The embossed stamp was originally a stylised image of Pontefract Castle.

The old logo, shown right, was copied from the Beaudesert and Henley Society's logo without the copyright owner's permission and for that reason could not be trade marked. At a recent council meeting, the parish councillors having decided that they wanted a trade marked logo, considered two new designs. One the Guild of St John seal and the other the crest, which is used for the town's boundary signs and the Town's website. 

The parish councillors voted by a majority for Guild of St John seal (left) to replace the familiar yellow and blue logo above.

The new logo has already appeared on the parish council's stationery. The cost of this rebranding exercise will be paid for out of the JPC's communications budget, which was significantly increased this year.

Allotments: green shoot of hope

A GREEN shoot of hope has sprung up out of the decay left by Henley's warring allotment-holders and parish councillors in the fonn of a new allotment and gardening club to serve the town.

At the beginning of the month allotment holders turned out in force to a meeting of Beaudesert and Henley Joint Parish Council to express their frustration and claim that councillors were no longer consulting with the Beaudesert and Henley Allotment Association on plans for the allotments, having made it clear that the council was the landlord and the allotment-holders merely tenants and "therefore no discussion was required."

The allotment association had been so incensed by the parish council's behaviour its officers-the chairman, secretary and treasurer-had resigned leaving the future of the association uncertain.

Last week, the parish council hit back at the allotment association's claims it had failed to listen to their views. On the contrary, said the council chairman, Cllr Les Goodman, councillors had spent hours of their time working on allotment projects and it was the allotment association which had excluded councillors rather than the other way around. This was according to a ready prepared statement read out by the council's chairman Cllr Les Goodman.

Now allotment-holders have taken the matter into their own hands and a new allotment and gardening club has been established. This follows a recent extraordinary meeting of the allotment association where it was agreed to wind it up and to establish a new club, Henleyin-Arden Allotment Gardening Club (HAAGC).

HAAGC is not only open to existing allotment-holders but also to anyone interested in vegetable, fruit or flower growing. And the new group is already forging links with the town improvement committee, which could potentially see more allotment plots in Henley.

The allotment and gardening club, which is free to join. already has twice as many members as the original allotment association. Residents are welcome to join even if they "grow their own" at home and would simply like to meet other like-minded gardeners.

While in an added triumph, the ex-allotment association officers were unanimously elected officers of the HAAGC.

Club secretary, Stephen Dorow, said: "All the members of the HAAGC seem very excited about the formation of the new club and I am sure that over the coming months, we will be able to generate many new ideas that will benefit all the members.

"For example, we have already approached the Town Improvement Committee and have. begun exploratory discussions regarding the possible provision of additional allotment! gardening sites in Henley with disabled access and other useful facilities.

"The Committee have welcomed our approach and are keen to develop ideas further. It is also refreshing to wotk with a professional organisation that is enthusiastic about improving facilities for Henley residents and which also shares our views on proper consultation."

Councillors had concluded at a meeting of the parish council on Monday 17th Augnst that there were just two options for moving the dispute between councillors and the allotment association forward. If the allotment association had disbanded permanently then the council would resume arrangements for communication with individual tenants. If the allotment association was still in existence the council would do all in its power to find new officers to run it.

Report by Philippa Prankard - Stratford Herald - 27th August 2009

Lords of the parish

Dear Editor,

The allotment holders of Henley have no say. They are told what to do because the local parish councillors know better—they are lords of the parish.

In their wisdom, the council erected a fence to keep out elephants; because they know best, they forgot about the rabbits. To stop the rabbits, allotment holders have now fenced in their own patch of garden at great expense, which looks like a patchwork quilt.

But then I have been complaining for several years about footpaths and no-one listens.

T A Holtom, Brook End Drive, Henley.

Stratford Herald - 20th August 2009

Parking Meeting Fails to Impress

HENLEY residents got the first look at proposals for a review of parking provision in the town on Monday evening. But the proposals themselves - far from contentious, appearing more of a tidy up of parking in line with legislation than a radical shake-upwere overshadowed by the format chosen for the "meeting".

Locals had received flyers through their doors from the parish clerk for Beaudesert and Henley Joint Parish Council prior to the event at the Baptist Church Hall inviting them to a "public meeting" to "discuss" and "consult" on the parking review. So there was confusion and frustration all round from the 35 or so residents who piled into the hall, making a mockery of the two lines of chairs set out for them to sit on, when the parish council chairman Cllr Les Goodman stood up to announce that this was not a public meeting and those assembled were to individually approach the two Warwickshire County Council officers in attendance to ask them any questions. There was also a chance to peruse the plans and fill in a feedback form.

This was a far cry from the discussion and consultation residents had expected. Several residents told the Herald they had been envisioning a formal presentation from the county council followed by a chance to ask questions from the floor. Others said it had been "a complete waste of their time".

A number of residents, on hearing the plans for the session, swiftly made their exit. Amongst their number was High Street resident Ruth Heirst. She said she was "very unsatisfied" about the arrangements as she had been led to believe this was to be a proper meeting.

"The plans refer to where I live and I wanted to know what they wanted to do about things," she added before making for the door.

Phil Mitton, traffic management engineer at the county council, said he had not been part of the planning of the event so he could not comment on the set-up of the evening. However, he added in support of the execution of the event that there were a lot of individual schemes included in the proposals and it had not been known who would be coming along and which bits would be of interest to the majority.

Cllr Goodman said he had never expected it to be an open meeting. He added that the parish council could have done nothing and left it up to the county council. He did accept that the flier, sent out by the parish clerk, could have been misleading.

Jane Williams, traffic project engineer for the county council, explained that Monday evening's session was the stage before the official consultation to gauge people's opinion before the fmal proposals were drawn up. The initial proposals, she told the Herald, involve a tidy up of parking across the town, adding no waiting areas on roads including Warwick Road, High Street and Brook End Drive and extending yellow lines on dangerous comers, such as on Alne Close, in line with parking legislation. Any loss ' of parking spaces through these measures would be replaced like-for-like with parking spaces elsewhere, with the town actually benefiting in the end from two extra disabled parking spaces and up to eight more regular parking spaces.

Report by Philippa Prankard - Stratford Herald - 20th Augut 2009

"We did listen to tenants"

BEAUDESERT and Henley Joint Parish Council this week hit back at claims it had refused to listen to the views of allotment-holders. On the contrary, they had spent hours of their time working on allotment projects and it was the allotment association which had excluded parish council members from their meetings rather than the other way around, according to a ready prepared statement read out by the council's chairman Cllr Les Goodman (pictured right) on Monday night.

At the beginning of the month allotment-holders turned out in force to a meeting of the parish council to express their frustration that councillors were no longer consulting with them on plans for the allotments, having made it clear the council was the "landlord" and the allotment-holders merely "tenants" and "therefore no discussion was required." The allotment association had been so incensed by the parish council's behaviour its officers-the chairman, secretary and treasurer-had resigned.

Cllr Goodman said the matter would be put on the agenda for the next meeting and he kept his promise. On Monday he moved to set the record straight through a lengthy statement. He began that the council welcomed dialogue with the allotment association and had supported them at council meetings-this included a twohour council meeting to discuss a proposed allotment handbook, funding and "tireless" work to keep the allotment up to the correct standard.

Cllr Goodman said that in March a parish council representative had been told he should no longer attend the allotment association meetings, indicating the association did not welcome parish council involvement and not the other way around. He questioned whether the former officers of the allotment association represented the whole membership. As evidence he stated that attendance had dwindled at allotment association meetings with only five people attending the last one.

Similarly, he questioned the allotment association's claim that the statement read out at the last parish council meeting had been endorsed by all the allotment-holders, bar one, as he had not seen any signatures and the parish clerk had received no communication verbally or in writing that allotmentholders shared the concerns of the officers.

In summary, Cllr Goodman said the implication that the parish council had done little for allotment-holders was unfair. And he concluded there were two options for moving forward. If the allotment association had disbanded permanently then the council would resume arrangements for communication with individual tenants. If the allotment association was still in existence the council would do all in its power to fmd new officers to run it.

The council agreed to write to all allotment tenants to see which of the two options they would prefer.

Report by Philippa Prankard - Stratford Herald - 20th Augut 2009

£25,000 to block FOI Request

JPC Councillor George Matheou, Chairman of the JPC's Business & Tourism Committee, told Councillors at their regular Monday meeting on 3rd August that the equivalent of £25,000 had been expended by the Council and the Parish Clerk in blocking a Freedom of Information Act request.

The request was made in the summer of 2008 and regarded publicity expenditure by the JPC. The Information Commissioner issued instructions to the council that it should follow the correct procedure and timetable.

The parish clerk described this FOI request as 'simply to fuel an individual's obsession'. Informed sources described the applicant as "persistent", rather than "obsessive". There is an obligation on all councillors in their 'Code of Conduct' - "not to prevent anyone getting information that they are entitled to by law."

The requested information is available for the adjacent Parish Council, Hockley Heath, on their website and is automatically updated continuously.

Allotment Association Rejected

The vast majority of allotment growers simply like to grow their vegetables, relax and socialise up at the allotment site. However in recent weeks plot holders have shown a mix of anger, disappointment and cynicism at the way the General Purposes Committee (GPC) of the Joint Parish Council (JPC) have treated them.

Over many months, the Elected officers of the Allotment Association (BHAA) have been listening to their members and potential plot holders about how they would like to see the Allotment site managed and developed. The BHAA Officers and plot holders felt they should have the opportunity to provide advice and input on allotment matters before final decisions were made by the GPC/JPC. For example discussions could include: plot rent reviews and how rents are fairly calculated, a fair and transparent method of allocating plots to existing and new members, supporting Lottery Funding bids for the Allotments and the best use of such funds, the impact of the Railway Station Development Plan on the Allotment site, health and safety etc.

Although the BHAA Officers thought they were making good progress working with the GPC, in recent weeks the GPC has made it clear that their idea of consultation is to make all the decisions without dialogue and then tell the plot holders. As a consequence the three BHAA Officers (Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer) have resigned their positions. Apparently a former BHAA Chairman has also resigned in the past as she also felt the GPC did not wish to consult and listen to advice. Another plot holder has said “It is such a shame, the Association is going from strength to strength, all the plots are occupied and there are now 13 residents on the waiting list.”

Anne Dorow, the most recent Chairman of the BHAA to resign, said:

“From our recent meeting with the GPC it is very apparent that they do not seek plot holders' input and do not share our desire for consultation of any kind. The Officers felt they had no real opportunity to formally represent the views of the members and potential plot holders. The GPC emphasised that they are the Landlord and we are simply Tenants, and therefore no discussion is required.”

Statement Read to JPC - Monday 3rd August 2009

Allotments' Committee Resigns

The Allotments Associations are holding an Extraordinary General Meeting meeting on Thursday evening with Anne Dorow in the chair, The committee will explain to members that the relationship with the Parish Council has broken down. With the association having no opportunity to consult with the Parish Council over issues concerning the allotments, they believe they cannot represent allotment holders. Therefore the whole committee will be resigning.

If no members step forward to form a new committee, the Association will be wound up. Henley NEWS On-line has been advised by one of its correspondents that it is unlikely that anyone will step forward to form a new committee.

Henley NEWS On-line - 23rd July 2009

JPC Agrees Revised CCTV

"SOMETIMES in life you have to put your hands up and say you got it wrong and I have to say we got it wrong with CCTV in Heilley." Those were the apologetic words from Trevor Askew, strategic manager at Stratford District Council, at a meeting of Beaudesert and Henley Joint Parish Council on Monday night where he was a guest speaker, along with CCTV expert Andy Macnamara, of ADT Fire and Security. But it appears that Mr Askew's 'hands-up' was not enough for a smattering of councillors and residents who continued to find fault with the town's revised CCTV scheme.

The new plans would see a small CCTV camera put up on the side of the police station and a second, larger camera, with built-in automatic number plate recognition (ANPR), put up on the side of a building opposite St John's Church-preferably One Stop if the shop agrees. This replaces the previous, unpopular, proposal of putting a camera on top of a specially-erected pole outside the police station and placing a second camera on top of the Grade I listed St John's Church.

CCTV has proved a controversial topic in Henley for some time with councillors and residents at loggerheads over what design of camera to install in the town, coupled with all-out concern over erecting unsightly CCTV poles in a conservation area. The revised plans would see one camera in the domed design preferred by members of conservation group the Henley Society whilst the larger ANPR camera would remain in a design previously selected by the parish council and likened to a "prison camera" by opponents.

Members of the parish council voted in favour of the revised plans with one exception. ClIr Bill Leech argued that when district councillor for Heilley ClIr Stephen Thirlwell (Cons) asked for CCTV for the town he asked for it for the protection of the population, not for ANPR. He continued: "We have to have much more unsightly cameras for a facility we did not ask for."

John Stott, spokesperson for the Heilley Society, said he feared the parish council were putting too much store on ANPR. He explained that ANPR cameras were typically used to scan roads for vehicles linked to crimes at a later date rather than to capture the number plate of a fleeing car at the time of a crime.

Mr Macnamara admitted this was the case. "If the vehicle goes in the other way you have lost it," he said. "It might catch it or it might not. You would need to have three or four cameras allover the town." But ClIr David Hadley said: "This is the best deal we are going to get and we should go with it." Cllr Nick Haycock said the sooner Henley got the cameras the better.

It is hoped CCTV will be installed in the town by Christmas.

After the meeting Mr Stott said the revised plans were an improvement, chiefly because there would be no poles, but he was reserving further judgement until the planning application was submitted.

Report by Philippa Prankard - Stratford Herald - 23rd July 2009

"Very Stubbon" JPC over CCTV

DETERMINED members of the Henley and Beaudesert Society have pledged to continue their battle to ensure the "most fitting" style of CCTV camera is installed in the town, despite parish councillors dismissing their pleas, writes Philippa Prankard.

Six members of the society, which aims to protect the character of Henley as a small historic town, turned out to a meeting of Beaudesert and Henley Joint Parish Council on Monday night. They wished to discuss the parish council's choice of CCTV camera after writing a letter to the council in April and receiving no reply. The letter, which urges the parish council to change their preferred choice of camera to a second option society members feel would be more fitting in the town, was read out at the meeting followed by the question - what do councillors plan to do about it? A lively debate ensued. Parish councillors submitted their CCTV preferences to Stratford District Council following a meeting in February.

At that meeting councillors voted to erect one CCTV camera on top of St John's Parish Church in High Street and another on a lamp-post outside the police station. They also chose their preferred camera design.

The Herald reported at the time there was a sense that the council had already made up their minds before the meeting, leaving residents' comments unheeded.

Council chairman Cllr Les Goodman said on Monday night that the type of camera was still under consideration by the district council and once a decision had been made it would come back to the parish council before going through the plauning permission process.

John Stott, spokesperson for the society, argued it still left the parish council's preference standing and he did not see why parish councillors could not let the district council know the society's opinion on the matter. He added that he felt if a poll was taken across the town, the majority of residents would choose the design not favoured by the council. Cllr Goodman said the council made decisions, on behalf of the town, which they saw fit. He added that the society had had a chance to give their opinions at the meeting in February. Mr Stott retorted that the society had not had a chance to have their say over the camera design at the meeting because they had not received the designs until afterwards.

Cllr Goodman called an end to the discussion and said the society should discuss this again when the matter was referred back to the parish council from the district council.

Mr Stott told the Herald after the meeting that he felt that the society's argument had fallen on deaf ears. He said it was difficult to know what to do next as the parish council were very "stubborn" but he wanted the society to stay ahead of the game.

He said members were considering contacting the district council planning officers themselves and carrying out a survey on the streets of Henley to see what design residents would prefer.

Report by Philippa Prankard - Stratford Herald - 22nd May 2009

"Rough with the Smooth"

HENLEY'S councillors discovered the true meaning of "taking the rough with the smooth" at a double-whammy' of a parish council meeting.

Not only did the annual meeting Beaudesert and Henley Joint Parish Council take place on Monday night but it was followed seamlessly by a full meeting of the parish council.

It was out with the old and in with the new as, in annual tradition, Cllr Les Goodman (pictured above) was elected by his fellow councillors to the post of Chairman, taking over from Cllr Sheila Roy.

ClIr Roy thanked all the councillors for their support. She said: "At times it has been challenging but we have a strong parish council which has dealt with difficult decision with professionalism. I have enjoyed the last two years and would like to thank the parish clerk for her support to me."

Taking his place in the chairman's seat, Cllr Goodman thanked his fellow councillors for their votes. "On behalf of the parish council I should thank Sheila for all her hard work over the last two years. At times it has been difficult but she has handled it remarkably well.

"I ask the council to help me promote Henley, which is what we are after all here for." The council elected ClIr Roger Hubbocks as vice-chairman.

But it was not all congratulations and applause. Bad news came with the commencement of the full council meeting with Cllr Roy's announcement that the council's reaccreditation for Quality Status had been rejected.

To achieve Quality Status parish and town councils must demonstrate they have reached certain minimum standards by passing a series of tests. Cllr Roy explained that the failure had resulted from items not being minute and the council's lack of a risk register, but she assured these issues were being put right. Councillors voted to reapply for Quality Status in the autumn.

Report by Philippa Prankard - Stratford Herald - 14th May 2009

Residents Unheeded on CCTV

AFTER an unsightly CCTV pole was erected without consultation in Henley last year, leading to a mass protest from residents for its removal, the parish council pledged that lessons had been learnt and such a failure in communications would not be repeated again.

However, while the public were this time invited to have their say on how and where CCTV cameras should be installed in the town at a meeting of Beaudesert and Henley Joint Parish Council on Monday night (16th February), there was a distinct feeling that the parish councillors had already made up their minds, leaving residents' comments unheeded.

Back in June last year, a new CCTV pole was removed from outside Barclays Bank on the High Street following widespread disapproval from residents on the grounds it was not only unsightly and out of keeping with the conservation area but a traffic hazard-obscuring the primary traffic light of the nearby pedestrian crossing.

A petition was signed by some 150 residents and presented to the authority responsible for erecting the pole without consultation-Stratford District Council. At the time, the parish council assured it had also not been consulted at the final stages.

On Monday night, parish council members voted to erect one CCTV camera on top of St John's Parish Church in High Street and another on a lamp post outside the police station. This followed a presentation from Robert Walsh, community services manager at Stratford District Council, in which he outlined the two most realistic options available to the town-installing cameras on buildings and erecting poles more in keeping with the surroundings.

The Stratford Herald - 19th February 2009

30% Increase in JPC Tax

The Joint Parish Council's Precept will increase by £20,000 (34%) for 2009/10. This is the largest increase in the area, even larger than Stratford-upon-Avon, which has a budget five times Henley's. Stratford's increase is £12,299 (3%). The average increase for all towns and parishes in the Stratford District Council area is £189 (0.83%).

This massive increase is required to pay for a 66% increase in the clerk's (Jenny Walsh - pictured right) hours. There is also a colossal 228% increase in JPC's PR budget, which is called 'Communications with the Community'.

No public statement has been made about this increase, which was approved by the full council on 15th December 2008. The first residents will now about it will be when council tax bills are received in April.

Wellesbourne Parish Council has announced a 22% reduction in its precept for 2009/2010.

Stratford-on-Avon District Council’s Cabinet has agreed to recommend an increase of 4.9% in Stratford District Council’s portion of the Council Tax for 2009/2010.

Warwickshire County Council has published a 3.89% council tax increase for 2009/10.

From Henley NEWS On-Line - 5th February 2009

Parish Council Precepts

Have you ever looked closely at your Council Tax (CT) demand to see who gets your money; what proportion they get, and what percentage increases have been added to the different elements since last year?

Figure 1 shows a typical example of how the money is divided up in most places.

Note: If you live in an area with a single tier of local government i.e. a Unitary or a Metropolitan Authority, or if you live in London, fewer bodies share the money. In a few places, the Fire Service charge is included in the County charge. With a few exceptions, there are usually no Town or Parish Councils in a single tier Authority.

Each body sets its own precept every year and the total of all the precepts determines how much your total CT bill will be. The District/Borough Council is responsible for collecting all the tax and then distributing it to the others.

Due to there having been some horrendous increases in CT in recent years, and in an attempt to limit the increases in the individual precepts, the Government now specifies a maximum percentage increase that can be applied. This is known as a cap. Currently (2008), the cap is 5% and applies to the precepts demanded by each body with the exception of Town and Parish Councils!

This means that Town and Parish Councils can increase their precepts by whatever percentage they wish. Being well aware that the cap does not apply to Towns and Parishes, a growing number of District Councils are offloading some of their non-statutory duties onto Towns and Parishes in their area but keeping the money that they would have had to spend on these duties. This has resulted in many Town and Parish precepts rocketing and, in a growing number of cases now being as much or even more than the precepts demanded by the District or Borough Council. In a growing number of places these uncapped increases add considerably to the total increase in the CT bill, and push the total increase to over the 5% limit: 6%, 7% or even more.

The Government has been aware of this state of affairs for years and even documented it in a Green Paper issued in 2000 where, in section J15 it is stated:

"..there are a few towns and parishes where the parish precept is larger than the council tax due to the district council. In these cases, it is illogical that taxpayers should have protection via the Government’s reserve capping powers from excessive council tax increases made by the district, but no protection from excessive increases in the [parish] precept."

The problem was also recognised in a Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) document issued in March 2007 where it stated: "Parish precepts in 2007-08 will total £299 million. This represents an increase of 6.7% over the 2006-07 figure of £280 million."

The chart below shows just one example of how the Parish precept for one village in Hampshire has increased over the years.

Figure 2. The relative increases in Town/Parish Council Tax

Successive Government Ministers have done nothing to correct this non-capping anomaly. Indeed, when Phil Woolas was the Local Government Minister, the Is It Fair council tax protest group asked him about this and he responded by stating that the Government had no plans to cap Town or Parish precepts. And so it has been. Nothing has changed since Woolas made that statement and, through its inaction, the Government has continued, tacitly, to support this underhand way of getting around the 5% cap.

The result? More and more non-statutory functions (but not the funds to finance them) are being off-loaded on to Towns and Parishes.

Towns and Parishes cannot be forced to take on these extra responsibilities but some do, possibly unaware of the financial implications. Either way, it seems that many of the Districts keep the cash that they had previously been spending on the transferred functions, still increase their precept by just under the 5% cap, and the Town/Parish (i.e. the Town/Parish residents) pay again for the cost of the transferred services through huge increases in their local precepts.

Most Council Tax payers will consider it inefficient and wasteful to have to fund multiple tiers of local government, especially when one is not restrained by the government imposed cap. Fortunately, it is relatively simple to close this loop hole and so avoid excessive precept hikes in the future.

Abolish the Town or Parish Council.

Legislation already exists to abolish Town and Parish Councils through a Town/Parish Council Review. A Poll can be demanded in accordance with the Local Government Act 1972, Schedule 12, if not less than 10 or 1/3 of the Local Government Electors present at the Annual Parish meeting, whichever is the less, demand such a poll. This year's Annual Parish meeting will take place in April.

With acknowledgements to 'Is It Fair' - The Campaign for Reform of Council Tax - www.isitfair.co.uk