§ 62. Mr. AmosTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the new financial arrangements for parish councils when the Local Government Finance Act becomes operational.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyWhen the Local Government Finance Act becomes operational, parish councils will continue to have the right to raise whatever money they need by precepting on the charging authority for their area, which must meet such precepts from the moneys—community charge, needs grant and its share of the national business rate—in its collection fund. The charging authority will reflect a parish precept in the community charge it sets for the parish area.
We are currently discussing with the local authority associations needs assessments for the grant system and the detailed arrangements for paying precepts. We envisage that charging authorities' needs assessments will include recognition of spending on functions which may be undertaken by parishes, and that a charging authority will meet its parish precepts in full, whatever the actual amount of community charges it collects.