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Swindon Council holds back money from Haydon Wick Parish Council
Parish councils in the borough may be facing the possibility of increasing the amount of money residents in the area need to pay for their services,
following Swindon Borough Council’s decision to withhold central government grant monies to help in the transition to locally determined council
tax schemes.
Explaining the situation chairman “We are concerned that the with- “The council said there was no obliga- but decided not to, on the basis that
of Haydon Wick Parish Council held funds are being used by the tion to disseminate the money and the borough was struggling to balance
Richard Hailstone said: “Swindon borough council in its budget without that it wasn’t ear-marked as a separate its 2013-14 budget due to the severe
Borough Council is one of only two any consultation on how the funds are amount. We are now hoping that the reductions in government funding.
or three unitary authorities in the to be spent. It is not within the par- government will make it mandatory to “Parish councils have more flexibil-
country which has chosen to withhold ish council’s remit to fund Swindon’s pass on the grant to parish councils.” ity to increase their income via their
the money rather than disseminating spending plans.” Swindon Council leader Cllr David precepts. While the borough council
it throughout its parishes. She added that the parish council Renard said: “At a meeting of the full has to hold a referendum for a council
“It amounts to £167,000, which is has not increased its element of coun- council in February when the council’s tax increase above 2 per cent, and was
small in relation to the entire budget cil tax for this year but this may not budget was debated, councillors con- being strongly encouraged by Central
of the council, but withholding it be possible in the future. sidered whether they wished to pass Government to freeze it altogether
means that parish councils will have Commenting on the borough funding from the borough to parishes – something it voted to do. No such
to raise their precepts and pass the council’s response Cllr Hailstone said: to mitigate the impact of the changes, restrictions exist for parishes.”
cost of services onto parishioners.”
The money is part of the £9.9
million grant the borough council North Swindon policing figures on a downward trend
receives from central government to Year on year figures from the North Swindon Policing Team show a reduction in victims of crime, vehicle of-
support parish and town councils in fences and anti-social behaviour reports for Abbey Meads and St Andrew’s Ridge wards.
2013/2014. In Abbey Meads the number of drop of just over 22 per cent across the “Although this is a great result we will
Haydon Wick Parish Council as- victims of crime was down 10 from two locations, down 35 from 184 in not get complacent. It highlights the
sistant media officer Steph Exell said: 142, while in St Andrew’s Ridge the Abbey Meads and down 92 from 387 excellent work of police officers at all
“The parish council has written to the number was down 39 from 324, rep- in St Andrew’s Ridge. levels, especially the Neighbourhood
the Minister for State Mr Eric Pickles, resenting a total reduction of over 10 At the end of April Wiltshire Police Policing Teams who work tirelessly in
for an explanation as to why Swindon per cent for both locations. reported a 25 per cent reduction in our communities.
has made this decision. The minister’s Vehicle offences were reduced by 56 serious violent crime in Swindon and “I would also like to thank residents
office has clearly stated that this is per cent, down 10 from 33 in Abbey North Wiltshire, with a 7 per cent for the role they play in helping us
not what it intended when it made Meads and down 26 from 50 in St overall crime reduction for Swindon. reduce crime: locality-based intel-
grant provision for the forthcoming Andrew’s Ridge. Commenting on the figures Su- ligence is crucial in both detecting
financial year. Anti-social behaviour saw a marked perintendent Gavin Williams said: and solving crime.”
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