Challenge over Arun funding cuts to parish and town councils rejected

At a meeting on Thursday, the select overview committee voted 8-2 against the call-in made by Liberal Democrat councillor Dr James Walsh, with one abstaining, on the grounds a decision to cut funding had not actually been made yet.

Instead, plans to halve parish and town council funding in 2015/16 and then scrap it entirely in 2016/17 were ‘recommendations’ based on financial assumptions, the meeting heard.

The decision to agree the funding cuts cannot actually be made until February 2015, when the budget is decided formally for the 2015/16 fiscal year.

But tempers at times flared during the meeting, as councillors argued over whether a decision had in fact been made.

For the full story, read this week’s Littlehampton Gazette, out from Thursday, October 31.