This is the writer’s second AGM and covers a full year from May 2023.The report includes a lot of detail, probably more than an AGM usually requires. However, it is included to make two important points.

Firstly, on occasion we, that is the PCC has been accused of doing nothing worthwhile. This form of comment is always via social media and although it says more about the poster than it does about the PCC, it does cause some angst amongst our members. The detail here surely buries those comments stone dead. Allied to these comments is the occasional complaint that we haven’t taken a particular action that the poster would have liked to see. Assuming that the poster is eligible to be a member of the PCC, they are welcome to join us and work free for the community. We should take heart from all the supportive verbal feedback that we hear day in and day out.

The second point relates to the community council system itself. Peebles CC receives £1,501 per annum, with only Galashiels and Hawick receiving more at nearly £2,000. Communities such as Walkerburn receive just short of £700, which the writer would argue is still too little by a long way. Our population is approaching 10,000 and Walkerburn is a tenth of our size but receives 50% of our funding. Our funding has deteriorated year on year from an equivalent today of around £2,100. If the reader considers the size and complexity of Peebles, and that de-facto our community council is a poor replacement for a town council, then the support we have is pathetic. The average cost of a secretary today in Scotland is £28K per annum. Our secretary works three days a week for an honorarium of a few hundred pounds. If we don’t have a volunteer, we don’t have a secretary and then we don’t have a community council. Someone in government, local and national wants to think about this and with some urgency.

It is impossible for this writer not to follow a trail. How much does local democracy cost in the Borders and how much in the country for a year? A little rounded up research gave less than £60,000. There are 68 community councils. Applied to the 1,200 in Scotland this gives a rough estimate of less than a million pounds for the year. Of course, we are a low population here and the average may not be very accurate. However, it’s almost certainly less than three million. So much for local democracy! Did those councillors who made the recommendations to SBC for another 10% fixed for three years after a hiatus since 2009 actually discuss anything of substance, or did they just decide 10% sounded like a nice round figure? Councillors should be on our side, the side of the voters, and although they have difficult decisions to make can they really defend such a position?

Read the chairman's full report

As always: support or comment to Anne Snoddy (Secretary PCC) secretary@ccrbpeebles.co.uk

Peter Maudsley

Chair

Peebles and District Community Council