Great Aycliffe Town Council’s Policy and Resources Committee met on Wednesday 24 October.
The meeting started with a presentation by Mr Graham Wood from Regeneration and Economic Development at Durham County Council, and Mr Stewart Watkins from Business Durham. (Business Durham offers news, advice and guidance for businesses in County Durham, and you can subscribe to their daily email at http://bit.ly/BDemail) The Town Council is anxious to keep informed of developments in the local economy; councillors heard a very useful account of the opportunities and challenges facing local firms but were told that – despite a small growth in the national economy – the local economy continues to struggle.
The next important issue considered was a request by Sedgefield and District Citizens Advice Bureau for funding of £18,000. The Council had looked into the matter carefully in July, when it had been agreed that – as a parish council – this Council could not afford to support CAB to the kind of degree that they required on a year-on-year basis. Thus, the grant of £6,933 given in July had been given on a ‘one-off’ basis and, since then, the Council had been faced with a substantial cut to its own income. Regretfully, therefore, councillors agreed unanimously that they were unable to make another donation. Councillors appre-ciated that CAB carries out excellent work in the community, and that CAB’s services are needed more than ever in the current economic climate, so when Counc. Crosby proposed that a working party be set up to investigate ways that the Council might support CAB other than financially, the councillors agreed unanimously to do so.
A number of further items on the agenda dealt with next year’s Town Council budget.
The Council has received a consultation from the County Council proposing that the adjustments to Council Tax benefits should not apply to town and parish councils; this is very welcome news – if they had applied, then the Council budget would have been seriously affected – so the Council agreed unanimously to support the proposal. However, the consultation also proposes the withdrawal of the current Double Taxation Grant as a quid pro quo. Councillors unanimously agreed to oppose this suggestion (which will reduce Council income by £38,475) since Double Taxation is not related in any way to Council Tax benefits, and is an issue of fairness and equitability. (You can reply yourself to this consultation, which has significant implications for individual Council Tax payers as well as the Town Council, at http://bit.ly/DCC-CouncilTax).
Finally, the Council considered its overall budget for next year. Councillor Clare, leading the meeting, stated that he was proud to propose a budget which – though financially safe – froze the Town Council precept for the fourth year running and also, for 2013-2014, planned to freeze Council fees and prices at its facilities … despite the significant reduction to Council income caused by the withdrawal of the Double Taxation grant. A number of councillors said ‘Hear, Hear’, and the budget was accepted unanimously by the whole Council.
John D Clare
