KELBROOK and Sough Parish Council's decision not to precept for the 2015/16 has caused concern in other West Craven communities.

"We decided back in December that we wouldn't precept," said councillor Paul Maskell, chairman of Kelbrook and Sough Parish Council. "Then in January, Pendle Council we're expecting us to take on management of services such as play areas and bus shelters.

"These cost more than our budget coming in," he said. "We had some funds in reserve but didn't think it was appropriate to spend money on maintenance. We don't have the capacity to take on these extra services.

"Our Pendle Council grant was £2,551 in 2013/14, £2,186 in 2014/15 and we only budgeted for £1,084 in 2015/16. That grant is our only income.

"We're a very small and little rural parish," said Cllr Maskell. "It's not our role to pick up what Pendle Borough Council aren't prepared to pay for and I don't think it's right to get volunteers on the parish council to manage these services."

He said a consultation about introducing a precept will be carried out with Kelbrook and Sough residents after the elections.

"In 2016/17, without the Pendle Council grant clearly couldn't continue to function if we don't precept in some way," added Cllr Maskell.

The devolution of Pendle Council services has been discussed at recent meetings of the West Craven Area Committee.

Its 2015/16 capital programme budget allocation is £35,630, as Pendle is withholding £7,920 in the event savings do not materialise from the transfer of some assets to parish and town councils.

Barnoldswick councillor David Whipp said: "Pendle Council have held back nearly £8,000 of contributions to parish and town councils to look after bus shelters and play areas, pending each town and parish council agreeing to pay for them.

"Earby and Barnoldswick have agreed and Salterforth have as well, but Kelbrook and Sough said they won't agree to take on these responsibilities.

"This money is being deducted off the area committee's funding and will be lost to the area."

Vince Green, Pendle's financial services manager, explained: “To ensure we can balance our books, in March the executive agreed to retain £40,000 of the 2015/16 revenue funding for area committees pending the completion of transfers of play areas, multi-use games areas and bus shelters to town and parish councils.

“The £40,000 which has been retained has been allocated in line with the current basis for distributing area committee budgets – the share of the electorate. On this basis the money held back for West Craven Committee is £7,920.

"This figure doesn’t cover anything specific; it simply represents the committee’s share of the overall sum of £40,000 which has been held back pending the completion of the above transfers.”

"If Earby and Barnoldswick had not raised our precepts to do the toilets we would have lost them," Earby councillor Morris Horsfield said during a recent area committee meeting.

Cllr Christine Pollard, chairman of Salterforth Parish Council, said it has had to increase its precept by more than 50 per cent to offset a reduced grant from Pendle Council and to take on a number of borough council services.

"It's gone up a fair whack, but we have to provide Christmas lights, a Christmas tree and other services," said Cllr Pollard. "I don't want to precept, but it is one of those things."