Issue - meetings

Recommendations

1)    That the Council continue to recharge parish council for by-elections.

2)    That the Council recharges parish councils at scheduled elections (May 2027 + 4 yearly) for the additional costs solely attributable to the parish election, as per option 2 in Appendix A to form the basis of those recharges.

3)    That the Council introduces the proposed recharges for uncontested parish elections from April 2026, as set out in appendix A.

Considered – A report of the Assistant Chief Executive Legal and Democratic Services to seek a decision on whether North Yorkshire Council should recharge parishes for the cost of all elections, both scheduled and unscheduled, including uncontested elections.  Four options for recharging parishes were presented and should Executive be minded to implement a recharge Option 2 was recommended which would enable the council to recharge a parish in full for any costs associated exclusively with a parish election.  Where an election was combined with a North Yorkshire Council election only the additional costs incurred by the parish election would be recharged.

The Executive Member for Corporate Services, Councillor Heather Phillips, introduced the report and advised that recharging would bring fairness across the county as some town and parish councils held frequent by-elections and currently this cost was spread across the whole county.  In July 2023 Executive adopted a policy to recharge contested by-elections; uncontested elections and scheduled elections were not included in the policy at that time. 

Resolved (unanimously)

1)    That the Council continue to recharge parish council for by-elections.

2)    That the Council recharges parish councils at scheduled elections (May 2027 + 4 yearly) for the additional costs solely attributable to the parish election, as per option 2 in Appendix A to form the basis of those recharges.

3)    That the Council introduces the proposed recharges for uncontested parish elections from April 2026, as set out in appendix A.

Reasons for recommendations

To reduce the financial burden on North Yorkshire Council for parish election costs. Parishes becoming more financially responsible for their elections ensures affected electors are contributing towards the cost of parish democracy via specific area parish precept, rather than all electors across North Yorkshire paying for parish elections in the entire area.

Alternative options considered

Option 1 in Appendix A: To continue recharging parishes for by-elections and introduce recharges at scheduled elections (May 2027 + 4 yearly) for both the costs solely attributable to the parish election (i.e. ballot papers and postal vote packs if dispatched separately) in addition to the shared element costs such as venue hire, staffing fees.

Option 3 in Appendix A: To continue with parish recharge arrangements in place since April 2024, only recharging for the cost contested by-elections.

Option 4 in appendix A: To not recharge at all for any parish elections