LEADERS of two parish councils in the York area have strongly defended increases in their parish precepts.

The Press revealed earlier this week that Strensall with Towthorpe Parish Council was raising its precept by 33 per cent, with another sizeable increase at Rawcliffe.

Susan Nunn, parish clerk for Strensall with Towthorpe, said yesterday the council had had to increase its precept to maintain the level of services it provided to the community, the costs of which had all increased at the same time as funding assistance from City of York Council decreased.

“So far I have received only one complaint,” she said.

“The issue of increasing the precept was discussed at the Annual Parish Meeting last May and residents voted unanimously for an increase, as the precept has remained the same for several years, the shortfall being met from reserves which are now depleted.” Richard Moore, chairman of Rawcliffe Parish Council, said that while there had been a 19.84 per cent increase in its budget, the precept had increased by only 15.5 per cent to £36,888, which translated into an increase for a band D property of 18 pence per month.

“Fluctuations in the precepts are a standard part of the work of parish councils,” he said. “Five years ago, Rawcliffe’s precept was over £40,000 and this year we increased the precept slightly because we knew there was a zero per cent council tax increase.

“With the cuts in York, we were required to ensure we could meet our financial obligations during the year.”

• Susan Nunn and Richard Moore said an earlier article published in The Press contained some inaccuracies, and we are happy to put the record straight within this article.