News

Proposal to end grants to community councils

Posted on Friday 2nd November 2018

Following a review, it is being proposed to end the grant Newport City Council gives to the city's 14 community councils.

The grant is an historic one that was supposed to be used to support "common" services by agreement with the city council.

In reality, it has been a "block" grant from the city council's budget shared among the community councils rather than payment for services. Although all council tax payers contribute towards the council's spending, the community councils do not cover all areas of the city.

The distribution of the grant of just over £131,000 has been the subject of disquiet among some of the community councils for some time but they have been unable to agree a solution.

Rogerstone Community Council's share was £64,500, Bishton's was £16, 050 and Graig's was £14,037 with all the other 11 receiving less than £10,000 including three receiving less than £2,000.

Members of one of the council's scrutiny committee examined the allocation issue  and came up with some recommendations for change which led to a review by officers. However, this revealed that the grant was not being used for its original purpose, hence the proposal now being considered.

Community councils are able to raise income specifically for their area in addition to the council tax paid by each household in the city. Like the city council, can decide whether to raise this to provide services.

For most of the community councils, the rise in council precept to meet the gap caused by the loss of the grant would be less than £10 a year per resident.

Councillor David Mayer, Newport City Council's cabinet member for community and resources, will decide on the proposal following consultation with all members.

All the community councils have been informed of the proposal and if a decision to end the grant is taken, it would come into effect next April.

 

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