Residents in County Durham are being urged to ensure they are registered to vote ahead of local elections next year.

County and parish council elections are due to take place in May 2021, along with the election of a new Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner for County Durham and Darlington.

Durham County Council are already preparing for the elections, and in January will be writing to residents across the county to ask them to confirm that the details held for them on the electoral register are correct. If the information is accurate, then you do not have to do anything, but if it is incorrect, it is important to return the form with the right information. The County Council will also ensure that measures will be in place to accommodate any coronavirus restrictions that may impact on polling stations and count venues.

Apply for a postal vote

As part of these measures, residents are encouraged to think about applying for a postal vote so that they do not have to attend a polling station. To register to vote, go online to register at Gov.uk: register to vote.

To apply for a postal vote, simply complete and return the form you receive in January or visit ‘Apply to vote by post’: http://www.durham.gov.uk/postalvote

For more information, call 03000 261 212 or email electoralservices@durham.gov.uk

If you are self-isolating, or know someone who is, please be advised that the Greenhills Centre’s Meals on Wheels service is still operating.

If you would like a meal delivering, please contact Hilary Jamieson on 01429 820 214 to place an order.

 

Statement from the Chair of Wheatley Hill Parish Council

Firstly, I just want to say that I hope everyone within the community, and all your families, are managing to keep safe and well during the current time.

With information being given to us everyday, and that information changing so rapidly, I know it can seem quite hard to keep up with it all. But I wanted to let everyone know that the Parish Council is continuously working around the COVID-19 problem, and we are determined to look after everyone throughout the village.

We have all been told from the UK Government to socially distance ourselves from others, and the older people within our community should isolate themselves for their own safety. Now many people here will have close family ties and will always be there to support and look after our elders. But there are some in our village that don’t have such support, but it is really important that those people are looked after, whilst keeping themselves safe. The Parish Council is committed to help as many people as we can throughout the village, and will work with others to ensure so.

The Co-Op have kindly agreed to work with volunteers from the village to shop for the vulnerable, the Parish Council, the Greenhills Centre, the Church and other local volunteers will give their time to support those in isolation, who don’t have anyone else, following government guidance how best to do this. If you, or you know someone that is self-isolating, and does not have any support whatsoever, please get in touch with Paula, the community pioneer, on 07971250262.

The Parish are going to have to take measures to safeguard ourselves and our staff, but that does not mean we cannot help the village. This year has been quite busy for us so far, where I have attended a number of meetings to try and improve the community. The outcomes from those meetings will, I hope, still go ahead. And anything the Parish can deal with will go ahead! But it may just take slightly longer.

Where you still have complaints, or information, or want us to know anything at all, please do not hesitate to contact one of the Members of the Parish Council, or our Clerk, Joanne.

I hope that all of you stay safe, and are okay during this time, and if there is anything that the Parish can do to help, please let us know.

Stay safe and take care.

Jake
Chair of the Parish Council

The next meeting of the Wheatley Hill Parish Council will be held remotely via ZOOM on Monday 8 March 2021 at 6pm.

This meeting can be accessed by members of the public – you must email Joanne Thompson (Parish Clerk) at clerk.whpc@btinternet.com in order that the link can be forwarded to you.

All members of the public are invited to attend and there is the opportunity for you to have your say. Please come along and join us. You can access the agendas and minutes of meetings as soon as they are publicly available.

Wheatley Hill Parish Council approved its budget for 2021-2022 in the sum of £127,855 at the meeting of the Parish Council held on 11 January 2021.

The introduction by Central Government of a Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme grant which replaced the Council Tax Benefit Scheme significantly changed the calculation of the tax-base upon which Council Tax is calculated. Town and parish councils are not financially independent and are reliant upon Central Government grant support to compensate for the loss of tax-base. The grant support is paid to Durham County Council who then redistribute the grant to parishes but the County Council is under no obligation to do this. Durham County Council as our billing authority has agreed to redistribute the relevant part of the Central Government grant for 2021-2022.

The Parish Council requires a budget of £127,855 for the 2021/2022 financial year. To off-set the budget the Parish Council will use £3,683 of reserves and receive a Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme grant of £12,672. After deducting the £3,683 reserves and the £12,672 grant from the Council’s budget this will produce a precept requirement of £111,500. The total amount requested from Durham County Council for 2021/2022 is therefore £124,172.