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Tuesday, September 07, 2010 01:37 PM Home > Village > Village Forum
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Thread: Precept ... 2010
Precept ... 2010
Posted: Sunday, November 15, 2009 12:16 PM
With the time fast approaching when the 'Decision Makers' minds turn to the Precept for the next year,
I am certain that whatever figure is finally reached there will be some who will not be happy.

What do the residents want in the way of services etc. to help the village to grow and develop; the chief parameter is of course the cost. My best guesstimate is a figure in the region of 10% increase in the present precept; though that might not be enough.

The other side of the coin is of course what would the village be prepared to shed to keep costs down?
The 2008 - 2009 was not a true reflection due to the Parish Council not in being for a full period. This current fiscal period will be a better audit of how the council have been working on our behalf.

In my opinion the biggest cost will be 'administration' - this will include all the fees and running costs. As time goes on the more work will be passed down to Parish level and increase the workload, therefore increasing admin. costs.

It will be a nightmare to pare these costs down!
Let me state I am not digging any single person out, but simply making a comment of facts as I see them.

We have Councillors' training courses all at a cost,
and subscription costs for this or that organisation, I am sure there are many more little bits that make any national or local administration organisation tick over, but they are done at cost to our precept.

That leaves the main thrust of my thread, 'What are residents prepared to pay to run a Parish Council'?

There can really be no sitting on the fence on this matter, weasel words and hollow arguments will gain no kudos from within the village. The 'Mushroom Syndrome' will not sit well with many of us.

So what direction do you wish to go?

anon-anon aka 7183.


Comments:

Author Thread:
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Precept ... 2010
Posted: Monday, November 16, 2009 9:20 AM
I think the fact that the IW Council has declared its intention to terminate the Tripartite Agreement is a clear indication that Parish Councils are not going to be the empowered bodies that we were lead to belive they would be.
You may have your own view why this is grinding to a halt, I belive its duplication of administration cost (clerks wages, provision of offices, meeting halls, IT, phones, printing and postage, travel cost and training etc,) they have all been spiraling out of control within most Island Parish councils and lets be honest County Hall is only 5 miles away from most villages on the Island and we already pay them to do all this work correctly.
If the Local Island Council was run as it should be we would have no need for Parish councils banging the Drum and its in our control to make the IW Council a credible body.
I say keep the Parish Councils dealing with the very local village issues, flower beds, dog fouling and allotments etc. and these should take very little time and money, and leave the Ward Councilors to play IW Politics. If it doesn't happen we can remove them in a few years. Most Parish Councilors have never been given the pleasure of a ballot box vote and are in this "elected" position until they dont volunteer again, so in all honesty how can they say they represent the view of the electorate on most issues and I guess thats why the IW Council has shut the Door.

Keep the Precept Low.

A Worker

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Precept ... 2010
Posted: Monday, November 16, 2009 10:33 AM
An interesting thread from A. Worker.

I think the body of the post has it spot on. When one looks into the true costs of running all these parish councils then it is clear there is massive duplication, we have not only the cost of documentation but there are sub-committee's in the IOW Council just to deal with parish matters. Meeting to discuss meetings, so the show goes on.
I don't apologise for banging on about the cost to the Island residents of the folly of the massive numbers of new parish councils.

It is true that a large number of the 2nd tier councillors have never faced the ballot box, however that is not their fault, they like all residents had the opportunity to put themselves forward to seek election. The problem for us who pay the inevitable price for all this, is that once the train is set in motion it grows at an ever increasing pace with costs rising far above what can be reasonably afforded by many lower income bracket earners.

What is needed is people to be prepared to put their head above the parapet and start to 'fight' for what they believe to right and above all 'fair representation at a economical cost'.
Adopting the party line has never worked properly on the Island [all we end up with is matters dealt with along political dogma] I am convinced that this way is not in the Islands interests.

Now is the time to make your feeling know to the power brokers at County Hall.

Keep the the Precept down!

anon-anon aka 7183