Keighley MP Kris Hopkins calls for change in law over precepts (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)
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Keighley MP Kris Hopkins calls for change in law over precepts
10:00am Thursday 14th March 2013 in News By Telegraph & Argus
Keighley MP Kris Hopkins will demand a change in the law to force town and parish councils to hold a referendum if they propose a precept rise of two per cent or more.
He said he wants this to apply to all councils in future, including Keighley’s, as it now applies to district councils.
He said he was responding to “understandable anger” over Keighley Town Council’s 72.6 per cent precept rise.
His comments provoked a sharp response from town mayor Councillor George Metcalf, who said the MP was “conspicuous by his absence” when it came to town council affairs.
He argued that Mr Hopkins’s own Government introduced the Localism Bill, which includes devolution of power from central government.
