Chapter 7 - Financial Arrangements
7.1 The Guidance Note on Financial arrangements with Parish and Town Councils is intended for principal local authorities, and for all parish and town councils.12 It has undergone only a few minor changes since an interim version was launched by Alun Michael and posted on the then-DTLR website in May 2002.
7.2 It is specifically aimed at helping avoid ‘double taxation’ – the situation where the costs of certain services are charged twice to local taxpayers, because the parish provides a service but the principal authority still charges taxpayers in the parish for the equivalent services it provides elsewhere. More detail on how this can occur is given within the guidance, and an annex to the guidance lists the type of services reported by local government as ones where double taxation has been found to exist.
7.3 We expect the guidance note to be of use to officers and members at parish, district and county council level where they are involved in negotiations on financial arrangements and concurrent functions. We are particularly grateful to the local authorities that have agreed the inclusion of their case histories in this note, allowing for others to learn from their experience and to find out more from named contacts if they wish.
7.4 The note also has a wider aim: to underpin the promotion of an enhanced role for parish and town councils, based on strengthened partnership arrangements between them and their principal authorities. This note therefore also discusses how best to create a framework for good financial arrangements for parishes working in partnership with principal authorities, referring to good practice in financial arrangements beyond those specifically aimed at reducing double taxation.
Page last modified:
19 May, 2005
Page published: 7 November 2001