Wiltshire Council wants local parishes to pay election costs

Town, parish and county elections happen every four years on the same day, so as Wiltshire Council has to pay for the county elections anyway, no charge has been made to the parishes for theirs.

This system was inherited from the local District Councils.

Now Wiltshire Council's Conservative administration wants to make the parishes pay. The decision will be made at the cabinet meeting on February 5 and then confirmed by the full council on Feb 23.

However it won't kick in for the May 2021 elections, so would start in 2025 if current electoral timetables continue.