It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hosie. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Morecambe and Lunesdale (David Morris) for raising this issue and organising the debate. This is an important subject because it highlights the role of parish and town councils in local communities, which are over 9,000 across the country. The Government recognises that council tax increases should be restrained and expects all tiers of councils to exercise restraint when setting increases. We have not traditionally applied referendum principles to town and parish councils but we expect clear evidence of restraint from them. Regarding powers and transparency, the local government transparency code of 2015 mandates the publication of invoices over £500 and procurement card transactions, with recommendations for contacting authorities or monitoring officers if there are concerns. The minister acknowledged that decisions on precept setting and spending rest mainly with town or parish councils but emphasised the importance of restraint. He expressed willingness to discuss specifics outside the debate and thanked my hon. Friend for highlighting challenges.