Welshpool Town Council won’t increase council tax precept

Welshpool Town Council will not be increasing their share of the council tax bill this year, despite one senior councillor warning that “we’ll have plenty of financial problems down the line” with a Charity Commission investigation into previous transactions looming.

The freeze will be welcome news for residents who had to cough up an extra 11.5% in 2019 and an extra 19.5% last year towards Welshpool's precept.

Town Mayor, Cllr David Senior, said the “people of Welshpool will be happy” with the news, but they will now have to wait and see whether the rest of the 2021/22 council tax bill made up of precepts from Powys County Council and Dyfed-Powys Police will also rise. That will be confirmed in the coming weeks.

For Welshpool’s share, though, it will mean that an average Band D property will once again pay £218.67 this year towards Welshpool Town Council’s annual budget of £592,307.

But last night’s budget meeting also revealed that there are some worrying times ahead for the town council with Cllr Phil Pritchard at one time calling for the meeting to cease so there could be more scrutiny of budget items in a bid to save more money.

The Mayor denied the request as the budget must be set by Friday, but Cllr Pritchard revealed that there is a pending enquiry into previous activity involving funds provided by the Burgess Lands Trust (BLT), a centuries-old charitable fund that supports the needy and upkeep of buildings in the town. 

Before that discussion was curtailed by The Mayor who said it would be addressed in a future private session, Cllr Pritchard said the Charity Commission investigation could result in the council having to pay back over £500,000 to the Trust in future.

“The financial stability of this council is not guaranteed,” said Cllr Pritchard. “We’ll have plenty of problems down the line.

“The Charity Commission will have an enquiry where £500,000 at least might have to be repaid. We need a contingency in the event we have to pay it back. There will be a full examination over what BLT has given to Welshpool Town Council over many years. There are many, many things.”

Town Clerk, Anne Wilson, acknowledged that “we are in a difficult position” and that the town council was “aware" of a possible Charity Commission investigation but that there was “no progress yet”.

Councillors agreed that the reserves needed to be bolstered and any savings made in the coming financial year would be earmarked for this.

At the close of the two-hour discussion which saw open scrutiny of a number of items, the 2021/22 budget was agreed and the precept set.