FAQ

Q.Why should I care if we have a town council or not?

A. Over a quarter of a million people live in Stoke-on-Trent. As the city of Stoke-on-Trent has a unitary council and they don’t currently have any parish or town councils this means they hold all the power. They are not like Staffordshire which has a county council and borough/district councils such as Stafford Borough, Staffordshire Moorlands or Newcastle-under-Lyme.

By forming a town council this gives the people of Meir the opportunity to have much more influence over what happens in Meir, with your tax payments. Take the library for example - Councillors not resident in Meir thought it was a great idea to close the library on Sandon road where there was a bus stop and move it to the community centre at the top of a steep hill. Does that benefit the elderly, disabled or parents with young children - NO! This is something the town council could have stopped because they could have been in charge of the library or have more sway on the decision making.

Q. Is this not just another layer of bureaucracy?

A. Lets be honest - yes! HOWEVER not like you may be thinking. A town council is a formal tier of government and so there are strict practices that govern what can and can’t be done. Unlike the other types of councils, town councils are ran by local people for local people. Anyone can put themselves forward to become a town councillor, there’s only a few exemptions - you might find this link useful https://www.local.gov.uk/be-councillor/becoming-councillor-0

Q. Stoke-on-Trent City Council do nothing for Meir so why should I bother supporting a town council?

A. You have sort of answered your own question there. If you feel let down by the city council then this is exactly a reason to support change. Whilst a town council can’t do everything for the local people it can certainly put more pressure on the big players to do so.

Q. Will I have to pay more tax?

A. Not necessarily. Town councils are self funding and so receive no money from the government. If Meir had a town council then that council what collect what is known as a ‘precept. The precept is basically a form of council tax. You would still pay your regular council tax to Stoke-on-Trent City Council but at the same time they will collect the agreed precept on behalf of the town council. Just like your regular Council Tax the precept is calculated based on your house banding. As most of Meir’s housing is council tax band A the collection would be minimal - around 50p per week per household.

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