OXENHOPE parish councillors have agreed a draft budget for 2015/16.

Council members unanimously accepted the draft during their latest monthly meeting last Wednesday. (Dec 10)

The budget features a £15,330 precept – £40 less than the previous financial year – which amounts to £14.60 for ratepayers in the benchmark Band D housing bracket. This compares to £14.97 levied on Oxenhope Band D homes in 2014/15.

The precept for next year includes an allocation of £3,570 to support Oxenhope Youth Club, which was started by the parish council.

Councillor Penny Cusdin, who was involved with establishing the club, said it had recently been awarded £800 from the proceeds of Oxenhope Straw Race.

"We are still short of volunteers but we're getting good support from the Youth Service," she said.

Commenting during the draft budget debate she added: "I don't think the youth club has a future after the end of this financial year if we don't have this funding support.

"Funding for open access clubs like ours has dried up, it is mainly only there for organisations targeting particular groups such as ex-offenders or children who are at risk of exploitation."

She said the parish council support would enable supervised youth club sessions to continue, noting that a lack of public transport links meant it was hard for youngsters to access similar provision outside of Oxenhope.