Midsomer Norton Town Council will be responding to a government consultation on precept increase and referendum principles in the next few weeks, something which may affect local towns and parishes in future.

The Government has historically tried to discourage Councils from raising the precept over 2%, but with less and less funding coming from Westminster, local Councils are having to resort to different measures to find income to provide the same services.

Government figures show that the average precept percentage increase is 6.1% in 2016/17 (around £440 million) and so these measures aim to keep Council Tax low, potentially leaving some already stretched Town and Parish Councils with a difficult choice.

Under the proposals, any local council which raises the precept would need to call a referendum, which it would still need to pay for if the decision did not go its way. The cost of a referendum being so high, it is unlikely any form of local government would opt for this – particularly not in the case of smaller parish councils.

Whilst Midsomer Norton Town Council agreed at its meeting on Monday evening that it would probably not be affected by the plans at present, town councillors still

expressed their concerns over the proposed measures. In his report, the Town Clerk said: “It is pushing capping to such a low level that it will be impractical to raise the precept – it has enormous implications for Town and Parish Councils.”