Government confirms Section 137 expenditure limit for 2021/22

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has notified the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) that the appropriate sum for the purpose of section 137(4)(a) of the Local Government Act 1972 (the 1972 Act) for parish and town councils in England for 2021-22 is £8.41 per elector.

This is the amount as a result of increasing the amount of £8.32 for 2020-2021 by the percentage increase in the retail index between September 2019 and September 2020, in accordance with Schedule 12B to the 1972 Act.

Cllr Sue Baxter, chairman of NALC, responded: “I welcome this important notification from the government about the increase to the level of section 137 expenditure for local (parish and town) councils. This enables local councils to spend a limited amount of money for purposes for which they have no other specific statutory power, and will help England’s 10,000 local councils continue to play their part in responding to the Coronavirus pandemic and supporting their communities.”