Seventeen local authorities have been accused of refusing to pass down £3.8m government funding to local councils, according to the National Association of Local Councils (NALC).
NALC has said 17 billing authorities are ‘defying’ advice from the government by refusing to pass on funding to deal with the impact of localised council tax support schemes.
It has urged these authorities to rethink their ‘short-sighted decision’ and is calling on Government to intervene.
Cllr Ken Browse, NALC’s chairman, said: ‘The vast majority of billing authorities have paid over funding to parish councils but I remain bitterly disappointed in the shortsighted actions of 17 authorities refusing to pass on any funding to parishes in their area, which undermines relationships between tiers of local government.
‘This must not happen again next year, I am strongly urging government to identify this funding in the financial settlement and consider either introducing statutory guidance or funding parish and town councils directly.’
NALC said some parish councils were considering legal action to claim the funding due.
