Welcome

The Parish Council mourns the loss of Prince Philip

“On behalf of my colleagues on Catshill and North Marlbrook Parish Council, we join the rest of the United Kingdom in mourning the loss today of his Royal Highness Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and acknowledge his life of dedicated service, his unfailing support and unstinting loyalty to her Majesty the Queen for 73 years.

We offer our condolences to her Majesty the Queen and to all members of the Royal Family at this difficult time and we give thanks for the extraordinary life and work of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

We have arranged for the Union Flag to be flown at half-mast on the Catshill Village Hall.”

Councillor Bernard McEldowney (Chair)
Catshill and North Marlbrook Parish

PRESS RELEASE – PARISH COUNCIL PRECEPT 2021/22

A story has recently been published in the Bromsgrove Advertiser, and on social media, in which Councillor Michael Thompson, a Conservative member of Bromsgrove District Council, accused Catshill and North Marlbrook Parish Council of recently increasing their precept for the financial year 2021/22 by 37%.
It is disappointing that the story was published, without the journalist who authored the story, actually making contact with us to seek a comment. If they had contacted us prior to publication, then we would have reassured them that in fact Catshill and North Marlbrook Parish Council had NOT voted to increase the precept by 37%.
Our original proposal was for an increase of 0.64%, but this has now gone up to 2.23%, because of a decrease to the tax base. It would appear that an error was made when our figures were submitted to Bromsgrove District Council (BDC).
We had been trying to get this error resolved since we became aware of it last Monday. We have had face to face discussions with David Riley, Financial Support Manager, and Chris Forrester, Head of Finance and Customer Services, both from Bromsgrove District and Redditch Borough Councils.
Because Bromsgrove District Council (BDC) had already processed their Council tax Bills for 2021/22, which are due to be sent out in the very near future, we had been quoted a significant charge by them, which the Parish Council would be required to pay to BDC, to get the Council Tax bills amended, to reflect the much smaller accurate precept which we had actually voted for.
We have reluctantly had to accept that it would be a disproportionate use of our limited parish council funds, to pay this substantial charge to BDC, to rectify the error. Indeed, the suggested charge would have exceeded the extra funds generated from the 37% increase on the precept.
With hindsight, maybe BDC should have double-checked with us, what precept increase we had actually requested, due to it being so high, prior to processing their Council Tax bills for 2021/22. Also, I accept that our parish clerk could have confirmed with the chair of our Parish Council Finance and Staffing Committee, the figures which we were submitting to BDC. Lessons will need to be learned by all of us.
Our original agreed precept (2.23%) would have generated £52,200 for the Parish Council for 20021/22. The 37% increase that will now be included in the Council tax bills will now generate a total of £71,000 instead.
To put that figure into some context, last year’s precept for a band D property was £21-96. We planned for a precept this year of £22-16 (20p or 0.64% increase). Because of the reduction of the number of band D properties the expected precept was £22-45 (49p or 2.18%) The precept will now be £30-53 (£8-57 increase or 28.07%).
We will be seeking suggestions from local residents in the very near future, as to what we can spend this extra money on in the next financial year. I do not want the money to be left lying in a bank account for the foreseeable future. We intend to spend it during the next financial year for the benefit of all of our local residents.
We apologise to all of our local residents for this unfortunate state of affairs.

Councillor Bernard McEldowney (Chair)
Catshill and North Marlbrook Parish Council
Catshill Village Hall
Golden Cross Lane
Catshill
Bromsgrove
B61 0JZ
Tel no: 01527 871240
Mobile: 07957 576946
Email address: b.mceldowney@catshillandnorthmarlbrook-pc.gov.uk
Upcoming events:
  • Wed
    12
    May
    2021

    Catshill and North Marlbrook Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group

    7:00 pmZOOM meeting

    Public can attend this meeting. Please contact the Parish Clerk for attendance information. The last meeting's minutes of 2nd December 2020 are attached here.

Cancellation of Parish Council Events

“At a recent meeting of the Full Parish council, it was agreed that all future planned Parish Council Events would be cancelled for the remainder of the year, due to the impact of the Covid_19 pandemic.

 

This means that events including;

 

– Bonfire and Fireworks Event

– Christmas Lights Switch on

– Christmas Party

 

will not be going ahead this year.

 

The Parish council will review this decision next year (2021).”

 Councillor Bernard McEldowney (Chair)
 Catshill and North Marlbrook Parish Coucil

Meeting Dates

The Parish Councillors have agreed to conduct all Parish Council meetings via ZOOM for the foreseeable future.

Councillors

Click on the icon above to view detailed information about the Councillors. There are no vacancies for councillors at this time.

Newsletters

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Find out about the Neighbourhood Plan

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Parish News

Stay up to date with latest coronavirus news.

Community Invite

Come together with your neighbourhood and join the Catshill Can Community Conversation on the 28th of April via Zoom. For anyone who is passionate about exploring how they can make a positive impact in the Read more…

Covid Vaccinations

COVID Vaccinations – please help ensure everyone in the top 4 priority groups in our communities has access to a vaccination and has not been missed Anyone 70 or over OR anyone who has previously Read more…

Universal Credit Guide

Due to the impact of Coronavirus over 5.5 million people are claiming Universal Credit. Many of them are new to claiming Universal Credit having been negatively impacted by Coronavirus. Here’s the Universal Credit guide https://www.jobcentrenearme.com/universal-credit/

COVID-19 UPDATE

We know that people over 60 can be badly affected by the virus. It can make you very poorly, need hospital care and even cause death. This is, of course, very worrying. It also has Read more…

Catshill Survey

Please help promote the Catshill Survey and encourage anyone living and/or working in Catshill to give their views. Following on from my previous email update, after the survey went live online last week, I can Read more…

NEW Lifeline

Our NEW Lifeline team are now offering pre-programmed, easy to set up, plug in emergency alarms to give extra safety and security to those isolated or vulnerable residents who need it during this uncertain time. Personal interviews Read more…

Get in Touch

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Find us at the council office

The Parish Council Office and Village Hall will be closed to the public for the foreseeable future due to the Corona virus. We thank you for your patience at this time.

Catshill Village Hall, Golden Cross Lane, Catshill, Bromsgrove, B61 0JZ

Contact the Parish Clerk

Parish Clerk: Carol Blake

Email: parishclerk@catshillandnorthmarlbrook-pc.gov.uk

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