Community Councils - Council Tax Explained

Published: 21 April 2021

What is a Community Council?

People within a community have a level of local knowledge and understanding of the needs of the area and its residents, and for this reason community councils form the first tier of local government, with a number of local residents becoming community councillors.

The amount of councillors in any given council is set by the Electoral Commission Review and in Rogiet this is currently set at 11, although this is being reduced to seven at the next local elections in 2022. Although the community council doesn’t have all the answers, they are there to listen to concerns and ideas from residents and help signpost you to the appropriate organisation if that isn’t us.

How is the Community Council different from the county council?

Each community area have elected representatives at county council. This is a separate and very different role that of community councillor. These elected representatives are called county councillors, and they are involved in representing the community at county level, feeding back to the community, and also sitting on committees that help make decisions across the whole of the county (for example Children and Young People Select Committee, Economy and Development Select Committee).

What does my council tax pay for?

You will have recently received your council tax bill and you may notice that the total sum paid throughout the year is split into three categories. In our area the sums are apportioned to:

1. Monmouthshire County Council (MCC)

2. Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner

3. Rogiet Community Council (RCC)

Given the hardship faced by our communities during the Covid-19 pandemic the council made the decision to keep the amount of council tax collected at the same level as last year.

Therefore, the 2021-2022 tax bill remains at £54,734. This year the calculations on this carried out by Monmouthshire County Council means that each Band D property will pay £74.08 this year to the community council for the tasks it needs to carry out, with properties at other bands calculated by Monmouthshire County Council in proportion to this figure.

If you believe you have been charged the wrong amount, or have personal circumstances that you feel would allow you to have your rate reduced you can contact Monmouthshire County Council. Be aware of scams claiming to be relating to council at this time of year – the council will never send you a text message or email regarding overpayment or failure to pay, nor will they make an automated phone call to you asking for information. Report any scams to Action Fraud (the National Fraud and Cyber Crime Reporting Centre) on 0300 123 2040 or on their website at www.actionfraud.police.uk

Here is a short list of examples of what Monmouthshire County Council and Rogiet Community Council are responsible for, and use the council tax towards:

	Community Council	County Council
Road surfacing and pavements	û	P
Street lighting	û	P
Refuse collection	û	P
Garden waste collection	û	P
Household recycling centres	û	P
Open spaces *(1)	P	P
Play parks	*(2)	P
Dog waste collections	P	û
Dog fouling enforcement	û	P
Community buildings *(3)	P	P
Parking enforcement	û	P
Biodiversity enhancement	P	P
Games court	P	û
Public library	û	P
Maintaining public rights of way	P	P
Schools	û	P

*(1) Various open spaces throughout the county are maintained by MCC. Rogiet playing fields adjacent to the allotments, and also Ifton Lane, are held and maintained by RCC. Other open spaces in the area may be owned privately, or by Monmouthshire County Council, such as the green land at Old School Gardens.

*(2) All play parks in Rogiet are owned and maintained by MCC Due to MCC lack of funds the community council have purchased play park equipment for the MCC park at the playing fields. The equipment was chosen to meet the specification required by MCC for their play parks. RCC are looking at providing equipment for older children outside of the main play park boundary in the foreseeable future.

*(3) Community buildings may be owned by county councils or by community councils. MCC commissioned and built Rogiet Sports Pavilion in 2003 but the building was signed over at a later date to RCC. Part of your council tax goes towards upkeep of the building. Our recent community survey showed that you have lots of ideas of how you would like to be able to use the pavilion building so we are currently looking into refurbishment options.

Other legal obligations of the Community Council

In addition to the above, councils now have a legal obligation regarding biodiversity enhancement. We are required to improve outdoor spaces in a way that encourages plant and animal life, and to submit reports to Welsh Government on actions we have taken to meet this legislation. RCC have undertaken a project to improve the playing fields site in its entirety. In recent months, and with the easing of Covid restrictions, the Rogiet Wildlife Friendly Village group have undertaken a great deal of work voluntarily on this, for which we owe them a big ‘thank you’.

Councils have an obligation for transparency, which means that agendas and minutes of all of our meetings can be found on our website at www.rogietcommunitycouncil.co.uk and these will tell you all the decisions and actions being considered and taken by the community council. Our policies and end of year finances can also be found on our website.

Of course, the more involved individuals who are involved in looking after our community spaces, and volunteering for small projects, the lower we can keep the our portion of the council tax. The council has insurance for volunteers to undertake work and is happy to work with appropriate people/groups to make Rogiet an even better place to live. Please feel free to get in touch with one of your local councillors or the clerk, on the contact details given on this website if you would like to be involved J

Monmouthshire County Council have some helpful information regarding council tax bands and discounts at https://www.monmouthshire.gov.uk/council-tax-explanatory-notes/