Call for rates relief for parish councils over fears over £500k losses
A council boss is calling on the government to provide business rates relief after revealing her authority could lose up to £500,000.
Shrewsbury Town Council has lost hundreds of thousands due to the pandemic, with a lack of footfall at markets, cancelled events and closed facilities leaving the authority counting the cost.
So far, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced several tranches of funding for larger councils and measures put in place to try and support businesses and workers. But Helen Ball, clerk of Shrewsbury Town Council, believes it is time the government stepped up to support smaller councils.
She said: "We've lost about £300,000 so far. but it's looking like it could go up to half a million. We've got the two markets, the Sunday market at Battlefield which has been shut throughout lockdown and the indoor market in town which is trading at about 25 per cent. We've lost all of our events which amounts to a big loss of income. We pay business rates on sports facilities which can't host any activities.
"We've been supporting the business community and about 12 different vulnerable groups. At the same time as we've been losing money, we've had to spend a lot of resources. It's the same for all the parish councils."
She added: "It would help if the government would provide money directly to parish councils.
"The money goes to the senior councils like Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin, but when you speak to them the money doesn't even meet their costs so they can't pass any down.
"It's something we've been pushing not just for us, but for the other parish councils in Shropshire. Parish councils have been doing an awful lot for their communities and they do it for the love of the places they live.
"Businesses have had 12 months of rates relief. The bill for Shrewsbury Town Council is around £160,000. If we could get rates relief it would go a long way towards helping us. Even if it was just that."
