NALC wants an end to referendum principles

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has told the government that it needs to exclude local (parish and town) councils permanently from referendum principles for council tax increases.

In NALC's response to the government's provisional local government finance settlement 2020/21, NALC welcomed the recommendation to exclude local councils from this for the next year – but said the current three-year deal should be extended at least until to the end of the current parliament.

The response included:

• Access to dedicated government grants
• Further reforms to the business rate
• The government to work with NALC to explore new ways to build capacity to help local councils, including through a share of local government sector financial improvement support

Cllr Sue Baxter, chairman of NALC, said: "NALC welcomes the government's recommendation to exclude local councils from council tax referendum principles for a further year. But this exclusion needs to be permanent or at least until the end of the current parliament. We will continue to work closely with local councils to encourage the use of reserves, invest to save projects and better communication with residents."