Pembrokeshire County Council (PCC) will have a 2020/21 funding gap and although probably less than previous years is seeking our support to deliver various non-statutory services which otherwise may be at risk of being withdrawn. These include: • Public toilets
• Playparks
• Parks, gardens & public open spaces
The first of these are playpark services and PCC plan to transfer the full cost to Solva Community Council (SCC) in April 2020. The forecast cost is £1,200 which could see our 2020/21 precept rise by 3.43%.
SCC has already taken financial control for the delivery of local Youth Services at an annual cost of £3,155. The cost of local elections has already been passed to community councils and PCC will now charge SCC approximately £5,000 for any contested election. SCC must be ready for the 2022 local elections and has from 2018 included £1,000 within the annual precept to cover expected costs.
Such increases to our precept are always a challenge to justify and we wish to do everything we can to protect residents from further excessive precept rises especially in the wake of Council Tax increases of 23.6% over the last two years.
SCC will consider all options to ensure our playparks remain open. Community Councillor’s will debate and agree a way forward at their meeting on Wednesday 6 November 2019 at 6:30pm in the Memorial Hall.
Photo by Fabian Blank on Unsplash
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