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Cllr Dr.Paul Barrow - Report for Parishes - March 2023

on Tue, 28/02/2023 - 2:59pm

District Councillor Report 20230225

Council Tax

The Vale budget has been finalised and published. You may be surprised to know that the Vale continues to charge one of the lowest district council tax rates in the country. The budget includes a below-inflation increase in Council Tax of 3.4 per cent for 2023-24. For a Band D property, this equates to £5 a year (just under 10p a week), bringing a total charge of £151.69 a year (£2.91 per week) - which is more than 25 per cent lower than the national average. 

Increases in Council Tax are never popular but we hope that this below-inflation increase is at least acceptable to most residents. The increase was approved at full council by all councillors from every party.

Community bus service

Community bus services through our villages were stopped several years ago as a result of shortage of funds and there have been a few attempts to restart these – unsuccessful so far. Wantage Town Council is now discussing the possibility of some sort of local service being set up with housing development money. We have had an online meeting and I attended representing our villages. These are very early days an W&G are initially thinking to see what they can set up in their own patch and hen see how they might bring in our villages. They are (I understand) talking to Faringdon and Uffington, which run their own community buses, to see what the opportunities and limitations are. I will be involved in the group to discuss this. I will shortly be sending out a questionnaire and would welcome its wider circulation through the villages.

Household help

Although the Vale has now closed the Household Support Fund and are no longer accepting any new applications for this fund help is still available for anyone struggling with the high cost of living. Support is still available through the councils’ Community Hub team who offer a wide range of advice, including information on free or affordable food banks and council tax support. The Community Hub Team can also help to signpost people for debt advice and other cost-of-living support and provide information on housing support as well as guidance on how people can look after their mental health and wellbeing.  

Anyone in need of support can contact our Community Hub team during office hours on 01235 422600 or they can email [email protected] 

Please let any neighbours know about this if they do not use the internet,.

We spent £139,615 to help people with the rising cost of food and energy bills and added £60,000 to funding from the county council to boost the funds available to people and provide support at a time when it’s most needed.

Applications already received are currently being processed and all applicants will be informed about whether their application has been successful or not. As there are a high volume of applicants, anyone who has not yet heard back is advised not to contact the councils or advice centres about their applications so that teams can focus on working through the applications - these are being worked through on a first come, first served basis.  

Vale EV charging points

The Vale of White Horse District Council’s installation of Electric Vehicle chargers at its car parks has seen charging volumes double in its first six months. 

In June last year 62 EV chargers were installed across five of the council’s car parks in Abingdon, Faringdon and Wantage as part of the county-wide Park and Charge scheme. 

The number of charging sessions has gone up by 60 per cent in the first six months of installation. During the same period the average amount of electricity consumed has doubled, meaning that people are now using them for longer charges. 

Since the first chargers went live in summer 2022 there have been 3,631 charging sessions in the first full six months, which equates to around 169,000 EV miles. This represents a saving 45,863kg of CO2 if those miles had been driven in a petrol or diesel car. 

Saturday is the most popular day of the week to charge an EV in Vale of White Horse and 4pm is the most popular time of day to charge!!

 

Cllr Dr. Paul Barrow
[email protected]
https://www.facebook.com/Cllr-Dr-Paul-Barrow-104943001583284 
District Councillor for Ridgeway Ward