Consultation local referendums on council tax increases

LOCAL REFERENDUMS TO VETO EXCESSIVE COUNCIL TAX INCREASES

The Coalition Programme for Government between was published on 20 May. Our Policy Briefing P02-10 summarised the main points of the agreement related to local government and communities, as well as setting out other points of interest. Included in the measures to be taken forward on political reforms was the commitment to give residents the power to veto excessive council tax increases. Our Legal Briefing L06-10 confirms the current legislative framework for capping council tax which may extend to local councils precept levels.

On Friday 30 July, as highlighted in the E-bulletin to county associations the same day, Communities and Local Government published a consultation document on Local Referendums to Veto Excessive Council Tax Increases. The consultation document sets out the basic principles underpinning the proposed scheme and seeks views on the practicality and technical feasibility of the mechanisms for triggering and holding a referendum. The scope of the consultation includes local precepting authorities – local (parish or town) councils and the chairman of a parish meeting – whose precept levels are at risk of being capped.

The document provides a very limited rationale and explanation for the inclusion of our local   councils in the proposed scheme. Government highlight their growing awareness in recent years of the council tax increases set by local precepting authorities, and of the very high precept increases set by some local councils in particular. The Government view is that while it is right that local precepting authorities should have the resources they need to support neighbourhoods and local communities, it is also right that council taxpayers are protected from excessive increases. Relevant provisions are likely to be included in the Localism Bill in November.

A copy of the short document, which is 16 pages long, can be found by clicking here

Very disappointingly, the consultation runs for 6 weeks (30 July to 10 September) as opposed to the usual 12 weeks as per the Code of Practice on Consultation. County associations and member local councils are strongly encouraged to respond to this consultation. In order to help shape and inform our own submission we would welcome your responses by Friday 27 August to chris.borg@nalc.gov.uk

In order to provide some further evidence to support our submission it would be helpful for further information on the following:

-          should this scheme be introduced, what will be the likely impact on the largest local councils in your county association area (one page case study examples will be particularly helpful);

-          what has been the experience of local councils in your county association area of parish polls (as a referendum mechanism) including voter turnout, influence on local council decision making and costs – both total costs and costs per elector on the roll (again, one page case study examples will be extremely helpful).

This briefing was issued by Justin Griggs, Head of Policy and Development