The Local Delivery project has been introduced by NDDC to try and find a way to protect the non-statutory, discretionary services that can no longer be funded by the District Council.

Some of the discretionary services that are at risk include Amenity areas, Arts funding, Citizens Advice Bureaus, Environmental Initiatives, Leisure Centres and Public Conveniences.

For further information read the following reports from the Marnhull Messenger:

From the September 2007 Messenger :

LOCAL DELIVERY OF DISCRETIONARY SERVICES
This article concerns your future Council Tax Payments

As you will see elsewhere in the magazine North Dorset District Council can no longer support the range of Statutory and Discretionary Services they have been delivering as part of the Council Tax [CT] because their annual increases are being capped at five per cent. At present tax payable by Band D is £92 per year for the North Dorset as part of the total tax bill and is one of the lowest in the country, the average being £150. During the next 4 years North Dorset has to reduce its £8.5 million budget by 25% [£2.1 million] at today’s prices, which equates roughly to the budget for Discretionary Services, hence the decision to suspend them. These services include the Leisure Centres in Sturminster Newton, Gillingham, Blandford and Shaftesbury, swimming pools at the latter two, Car Parks, Environmental Services, Amenity Areas, Arts Funding and Public Conveniences.

Last year an interim project was implemented [though Marnhull Parish Council voted not to participate] whereby most town and parish councils added a supplement of between £11 and £12 at Band D to their precepts but only 2007/8. Now we are faced with financing the ongoing situation and four ‘Partnerships’ have been formed by Sturminster, where it’s Sturquest, Gillingham, where it’s Three Rivers, Blandford where it’s DT11 and Shaftesbury. These partnerships plan to co-ordinate the Discretionary Services for the towns and surrounding parishes that agree to support them. Marnhull PC is represented on Sturquest but the PC will need to decide which, if any of the Partnerships Marnhull should join.

At present, however there is scant information especially with regard to cost, the best rough estimate being a likely increase over four years of £50 to £60 per annum per household with the biggest hit in 2008/9 at around £30/35 because that will include the total costs of the Leisure Centres. This measure for raising the tax is legal because town and parish precepts are not capped as yet. Some might think it a piece of Government jiggery pokery, which further puts jobs at risk while passing management into the hands of unpaid, and often untrained volunteers, no matter how willing they are.

The question is whether Marnhull residents are interested in any or all of these services sufficiently to join a partnership and make a contribution through the Parish Precept. If the majority do then the Parish Council needs to know. So far a list of the services with their total budgets based on 2006/7 is not available but is being sought so that better guidance can be given showing costs per household based on differing numbers of tax payers funding a partnership. Clearly there is a lot of pressure on Marnhull PC to support Sturquest as an expression of community solidarity, which is understandable but the choice is totally open. Marnhull PC will receive a written assurance concerning accountability for the funds and it has been suggested this part of the precept is shown separately to that which relates to expenditure only for the village.

Come and express your views at an

Open Meeting at 7 pm - Village Hall
Tuesday 18th September 2007.

As last year the decision is made by the Parish Councillors on your behalf, BUT only after consultation with parishioners who wish to make their views known and your input is crucial to everyone.
The meeting is dedicated only to this subject and is scheduled to end at 8.30 pm.

Jeremy Watson – Chairman Marnhull Messenger

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From the October 2007 Messenger :

REPORT ON THE LOCAL DELIVERY MEETING AT VILLAGE HALL - 18TH SEPTEMBER 2007

Some 30 parishioners attended a meeting convened to hear about the latest circumstances surrounding the redistribution of responsibilities and budgeting for the Discretionary Services [DS] that the North Dorset District Council [NDDC] is divesting during the next 3 to 4 years. Cllr Lloyd laid out the known facts in a brief power point presentation explaining that Parish Councillors are seeking guidance from Marnhull residents as to what services they would like supported and for which they are prepared to pay. Without sufficiently complete factual information, especially with regard to costs, this places the PC in an invidious position and any judgement they make will almost inevitably be a compromise.

What needs to be clear is that these Discretionary Services will be the responsibility of the NDDC as of the date they withdraw funding and they will have no further responsibility for them in any way. Those that are taken on will be managed by yet to be decided bodies that each will be set up by the four individual partnerships. The likelihood of specialist contractors being used is questionable in view of the negative financial projections, though some might take on specific tasks like street cleaning for example.

Clearly the main items and costs of the DS are the four Leisure Centres at Blandford, Shaftesbury, Gillingham and Sturminster which probably entail some 60 per cent or more of the total budget of £2.1 million. It is already known that the Swimming Pool and Leisure Centre at Gillingham are seriously overdue for a rebuild and the NDDC has set aside substantial funds towards this project for which the final budget is not yet known.

The timetable of withdrawal of funding of the DS by the NDDC is as follows:

During the question and answer session that followed, the meeting was advised that Marnhull could pick and choose those services to which it wishes to contribute, a fact that many thought is a recipe for disaster. It was pointed out by Cllr Lloyd that if the NDDC had not been capped over recent years it could have recovered the increased costs through the Council Tax in the normal way, thus everyone would be paying without recourse to the present situation, which led several to wonder why the total sum now required had not been spread across all Towns and Parishes Precepts on an equal basis as is happening during the current tax year, except in Marnhull and a few other parishes. Some expressed surprise that after 18 months of discussions on this matter [originally called Tough Choices] there is not more factual information and believe it reflects badly on the NDDC who could have managed the transference of these services better.

Concern was expressed over accountability for the day to day management and administration of the DS now that they will be outside the Political environment. Whatever the final outcome on the issues of accountability, management and operation of the DS, clearly the PC is going to need to monitor the situation on an annual basis as more services are divested by the NDDC while also reviewing the operation of those already handed over to the responsible bodies.

To conclude the audience was asked to fill in forms made available for the purpose indicating what DS they would like the PC to consider including in their final submission before the end of October. One way and another our Parish Council is going to need all the support we can give it.

[Further information about the DS can be found in September’s issue of the Messenger]

Jeremy Watson