Commenting on Parish the Thought, Sir @Ashley7Fox, Member of Parliament for Bridgwater, said: “Bridgwater residents have been badly let down. Liberal Democrat-run Somerset Council and Labour-run Bridgwater Town Council have worked hand in hand to land local taxpayers with a bad deal. Having declared a financial emergency, Somerset has introduced above inflation council tax increases while transferring services away, and Bridgwater has snapped up those services and sent the bill straight back to residents. The result is a Town Council charge that has rocketed from £91.31 to £431.63 in a short period. Residents are paying substantially more for the same services, while many would argue they are getting a worse service and poorer value for money. That simply isn’t good enough. I have consistently opposed this cash grab from hardworking families and pensioners. People on fixed incomes cannot simply increase their income because the council decides it wants more money, but they have no choice about paying the bill. I welcome greater scrutiny of these huge increases and, crucially, proper scrutiny of whether taxpayers are getting value for money. Ultimately, the people of Bridgwater will cast their judgement at the ballot box on whether they are satisfied with the services they receive and the enormous increase they have been forced to pay for them.”

Commenting on Parish the Thought, The Lord Fuller OBE, former deputy leader of the Conservative Party in Local Government, said: “The government has awarded itself powers to abolish city councils - including some with large populations, such as Norwich, Peterborough, Oxford and Exeter - and convert them into parish or town councils in a wide-ranging local government reorganisation. The lesson from Salisbury in a previous round of local government reorganisation is that these new historic places let rip with unconstrained council taxes greater than ever before, all whilst not addressing the things that council tax is meant to pay for - like housing, homelessness, street cleaning and planning. Local residents are being milked by ever-higher taxes without any constraints to keep the council tax within affordable limits. I laid amendments in the devolution bill to protect residents from unlimited tax rises for parishes with a precept of more than 1 million or a population of more than 50,000. The government rejected this approach and instead introduced new taxes, fees, charges and levies that mean that local taxation has become untethered to reality and to residents’ ability to pay.”

Commenting on Parish the Thought, @JC_Hodgkinson, report author and Next Generation Fellow at the Adam Smith Institute, said: “Local councils do vital work, and in my own experience as a parish councillor, I have witnessed the positive impacts they can have on the communities they serve. But they are the only level of English local government able to hike taxes with no restrictions, no referendum, and no external checks on how well the money is spent. With local councils set to gain more power and raise ever-higher revenues as services are devolved down the pyramid of government, it is only right that checks on how they tax and spend grow with them. These proposals do not seek to clip the wings of good governance. Instead, they aim to establish a framework of accountability and transparency that will foster trust. Residents must have confidence in a tier of government that is likely to play a greater role across our countryside, towns, and cities.”

🚨 NEW ASI PAPER 🚨 ✍️ @JC_Hodgkinson Parish councils can raise your council tax by 50%, 100% or more without a referendum. Many seats are filled without a contested election. Our new report, Parish the Thought, asks: who checks England’s smallest tier of government? 🧵

Our proposals: ❌ Cap routine precept rises, with a way to exceed the cap backed by a clear democratic mandate. 👋 Help tiny councils share overheads. 🔍 Introduce proportionate value-for-money scrutiny for larger councils.