Council grant cuts will 'hit poorest settlements'
GoogleFunding cuts to some town and parish councils would hit the "poorest settlements" the hardest, one clerk has said.
Reform-led Durham County Council has proposed cutting the entirety of the £1m grant it currently gives out each year to some of its town and parish councils.
Horden Parish Council clerk Samantha Shippen said the parish could lose about £60,000 of its current £678,000 budget, and that the council already ran such a "lean" operation that it could not afford any more cuts.
Durham County Council deputy leader Darren Grimes said the local authority had to look at "every option available" to tackle its budget deficit.
Earlier this month, the county council agreed to remove 100% council tax reductions for low-earners, meaning most residents will have to pay at least 10% of their bills from April.
The £1m grant money is aimed at partly compensating town and parish councils due to the number of their poorer residents claiming the tax reductions.
"The poorest settlements are going to be the ones affected [by the cuts]," said Ms Shippen.
"I don't think that we can even find those savings as we already run as lean as we can."
GoogleMs Shippen said the parish council maintained the parks, the open spaces and cemetery in Horden.
For example, she said, the parish budgeted about £100,000 a year alone for the upkeep and replacement of equipment in its five playgrounds.
She also said stopping service at its sites such as Thorpe Road Cemetery was not an option.
"Our cemetery has been working since the 1950s," she said.
She said the parish was calling on Durham County Council to delay the cuts and hold a consultation over the changes.
Ms Shippen also said the parish council was still finalising its 2026-2027 budget and was considering increasing the parish tax locals paid to make up for the proposed shortfall.
'Little notice of cuts'
Great Aycliffe Town Council said it would also be affected by the cuts if they took place.
It said without the grant from Durham County Council, it would have £145,000 less money in its budget in the next financial year – about 7% of its total.
This financial year, it spent about £991,550 on Oakleaf Sports Complex which made a loss of about £380,000. On its parks and play areas, it spent about £238,000.
A town council spokesperson said the proposed cuts had been made "with little notice or consultation at a very late stage in the budget-setting process".
It said reducing its services and events was "not an acceptable course of action".
It has proposed increasing its town council tax for residents by £13.86 per year for Band A properties – an increase of about 6.92% to make up for the cuts.
Grimes said the council was facing a £72m budget gap over the next four years.
"Like the county council, town and parish councils are expected to operate within their own budgets, therefore expectations to pass on funding that we do not have demonstrates the situation we are in," he said.
He said the parish grant money had been paid out by Durham County Council "long after most other councils made the decision to end them" but added the proposed cuts were still in consultation.
"We must look at every option available to meet this deficit without overburdening the taxpayer," he said.
