Clearer guidance needed on how to separate special water level management levy from councils’ annual budgets, drainage association says.
Internal Drainage Boards (IDBs) - the bodies responsible for managing water levels - are funded through levies which form part of the council tax, an arrangement the District Councils’ Network (DCN) has said should be changed.
The DCN has, instead, called for these levies to be treated as a separate precept in a manner similar to county council, fire and police precepts.
Responding to the DCN, the Association of Drainage Authorities (ADA) insisted the current system of collecting the levies as a part of council tax is the most efficient way of funding IDBs. They added local authorities neither gain nor lose any money.
However, they did agree there needs to be clearer guidance to debunk the misconception that the levy is part of a council’s budget.
Innes Thomson, ADA’s chief executive said: ‘Internal Drainage Boards depend on Special Levy to help them provide a cost-effective, efficient, local service in managing water where it really matters to people and the environment.
‘We need to publicise that service more and allow people to understand and support the work being done to reduce the risks of their lives being affected by flooding and drought.’
