Precepts near us

East Kent coastal town council precepts

There has been a lot of commentary on social media regarding the current review into whether Whitstable should have its own town council and precepts.  In particular, comments have been made that data quoted by the CT5 People’s Forum has been skewed in order to show a possible precept for a Whitstable town council in the most favourable light.  So let’s look at the facts.

Here are the precepts charged by all East Kent coastal town councils for 2023/24 for a Band D Council Tax property:

District	Town council	2023/24 precept Council Tax Band D (£)
Swale	Faversham	82.80
Thanet	Ramsgate	82.26
	Westgate-on-Sea	73.80
	Broadstairs and St Peters	75.42
Dover	Dover	107.13
	Deal	69.13
	Sandwich	135.96
	Walmer	72.98
Folkestone and Hythe	Folkestone	65.42
	Hythe	59.94
	Total	824.84
	Mean average precept	82.48

The East Kent coastal town council precepts the CT5 People’s Forum have been quoting on their website since last summer:

District	Town council	2023/24 precept Council Tax Band D (£)
Swale	Faversham	82.80
Thanet	Ramsgate	82.26
	Westgate-on-Sea	73.80
	Broadstairs and St Peters	75.42
Folkestone and Hythe	Folkestone	65.42
	Total	379.70
	Mean average precept	75.94

I am pleased to say the figures we have been quoting fall within the £60-£80 range Canterbury City Council have been using in the information published alongside the Community Governance Review.

Should a town council for Whitstable go ahead, the actual precept figure will depend on a variety of factors to be determined by Canterbury City Council.  It will not simply be a mean average of what other East Kent coastal town councils currently charge.

Bob Pullen for the CT5 People’s Forum Town Council Group