Labour group launches petition for town to recover lost cash
Monday, 17th February 2014.
The Haverhill and Kedington Labour group has this week launched a petition to recover cash intended for the town but being kept by St Edmundsbury.
The petition calls for St Edmundsbury Borough Council to pass on the Council Tax Support Grant, which was intended for Haverhill residents.
The grant was given to the borough by central Government to offset the reduction in funding to Haverhill Town Council caused by recalculation of how Council Tax Benefit is paid to town and parish councils.
Changes to council tax regulations came into force in 2013, which resulted in a reduction in the number of households that can be used in determining the level of council tax.
The Government provides a designated grant to billing authorities designed to compensate town and parish councils fully for any reductions in the precept taxbase arising from these changes.
Last year St Edmundsbury Borough Council passed on this grant in full, and for Haverhill it amounted to £128,933. At the same time, Haverhill Town Council applied a freeze on its element of council tax for the second year running.
This year, however, St Edmundsbury Borough Council, without consultation, chose to phase this grant out, reducing it by 25 per cent, £32,233, each year over four years.
St Edmundsbury Borough Council repeatedly stated that the grant was not identified separately in its budget and chose not to pass the money on to Haverhill.
However this information was later to be found to be in error when it became clear that the Council Tax Support Grant not only appeared separately on the budget but also was the same amount in 2014/15 as in 2013/14.
Furthermore a summary for 2015/16 indicates the same base amount in Council Tax Support. In addition, in a written statement on December 18, Brandon Lewis, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Communities and Local Government) said "We have been clear that we expect billing authorities to carry on passing on support to town councils and parishes to help mitigate any reduction in their tax base due to the local council tax support scheme".
The Labour group said the loss of this grant had forced the town council to make cuts as well as to increase its portion of the council tax by 'a small amount' - a final decision on this is to be taken tomorrow night.
The Labour group feels St Edmundsbury has not been fair in its handling of this and despite calls to have the grant re-instated, continually refuses to pass the funding on to Haverhill residents.
Labour's Cllr Gary Stroud said: “This reduction in funding follows less than two years after the borough council withdrew £200,000 in support for Haverhill Arts Centre.
"It is difficult for residents to ignore the difference between this approach and the £1.2m the borough still spends on the Apex Theatre in Bury St Edmunds which, interestingly, makes losses in excess of £700,000 per annum.
"If the losses made by The Apex were to be reduced even slightly, then this would have allowed the borough council to maintain the Council Tax Support Grant to Haverhill, negating the need to make unnecessary cuts to services and rises to council tax.”
The Labour group is hoping that this petition will gain support from all councillors at the tomorrow's town council meeting and will form part of a larger campaign to highlight this issue.
The petition is available to sign online at http://is.gd/haverhillpetition or you can visit Haverhill Arts Centre, or the Labour stall on the market every Saturday.
For further information contact Roger André email: rjfandre@yahoo.com phone number: 01440 763715 mob: 07767 267579, or visit the Haverhill and Kedington Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/HaverhillLabour
The petition calls for St Edmundsbury Borough Council to pass on the Council Tax Support Grant, which was intended for Haverhill residents.
The grant was given to the borough by central Government to offset the reduction in funding to Haverhill Town Council caused by recalculation of how Council Tax Benefit is paid to town and parish councils.
Changes to council tax regulations came into force in 2013, which resulted in a reduction in the number of households that can be used in determining the level of council tax.
The Government provides a designated grant to billing authorities designed to compensate town and parish councils fully for any reductions in the precept taxbase arising from these changes.
Last year St Edmundsbury Borough Council passed on this grant in full, and for Haverhill it amounted to £128,933. At the same time, Haverhill Town Council applied a freeze on its element of council tax for the second year running.
This year, however, St Edmundsbury Borough Council, without consultation, chose to phase this grant out, reducing it by 25 per cent, £32,233, each year over four years.
St Edmundsbury Borough Council repeatedly stated that the grant was not identified separately in its budget and chose not to pass the money on to Haverhill.
However this information was later to be found to be in error when it became clear that the Council Tax Support Grant not only appeared separately on the budget but also was the same amount in 2014/15 as in 2013/14.
Furthermore a summary for 2015/16 indicates the same base amount in Council Tax Support. In addition, in a written statement on December 18, Brandon Lewis, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Communities and Local Government) said "We have been clear that we expect billing authorities to carry on passing on support to town councils and parishes to help mitigate any reduction in their tax base due to the local council tax support scheme".
The Labour group said the loss of this grant had forced the town council to make cuts as well as to increase its portion of the council tax by 'a small amount' - a final decision on this is to be taken tomorrow night.
The Labour group feels St Edmundsbury has not been fair in its handling of this and despite calls to have the grant re-instated, continually refuses to pass the funding on to Haverhill residents.
Labour's Cllr Gary Stroud said: “This reduction in funding follows less than two years after the borough council withdrew £200,000 in support for Haverhill Arts Centre.
"It is difficult for residents to ignore the difference between this approach and the £1.2m the borough still spends on the Apex Theatre in Bury St Edmunds which, interestingly, makes losses in excess of £700,000 per annum.
"If the losses made by The Apex were to be reduced even slightly, then this would have allowed the borough council to maintain the Council Tax Support Grant to Haverhill, negating the need to make unnecessary cuts to services and rises to council tax.”
The Labour group is hoping that this petition will gain support from all councillors at the tomorrow's town council meeting and will form part of a larger campaign to highlight this issue.
The petition is available to sign online at http://is.gd/haverhillpetition or you can visit Haverhill Arts Centre, or the Labour stall on the market every Saturday.
For further information contact Roger André email: rjfandre@yahoo.com phone number: 01440 763715 mob: 07767 267579, or visit the Haverhill and Kedington Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/HaverhillLabour
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