Council Tax Increases by average 3.9% predicts WLGA
03 March 2009
The WLGA predicts that there will be an average council tax increase in Wales of between 3.8% and 3.9% this year.
The majority of councils across Wales have already set their final council tax levels for this year but there are some final decisions to be made. From the increases received to date by the WLGA, the figures suggest that this year’s increase will be equivalent to last year - making this year’s rise the 2nd lowest since devolution.
WLGA Leader, Cllr John Davies (Pembrokeshire) said:
“This increase is the result of councils working vigorously to strike the right balance between protecting public services and keeping council tax increases as low as possible. Councils are fully in tune with their communities and are working across Wales to alleviate the worse impacts of the recession. This occurs at the same when Councils are grappling with their own financial problems as a result of under-funding by the Welsh Assembly Government and huge increases in service demands. Unfortunately, unlike our counterparts in Scotland, the Welsh Assembly Government was not prepared to utilise existing funding to enable us to freeze council tax rises through a re-investment of local authority efficiency savings in core services.”
Cllr Rodney Berman (Cardiff), WLGA Finance Spokesperson added:
“There has already been a significant downsizing of local government services and staff levels over the last year and we expect a further downsizing over the next few years. We all want to see well-resourced schools, sustainable waste management facilities, high quality public transport and leisure facilities but these are all hugely expensive to deliver.
Finance Minister, Andrew Davies, is forecasting that for councils’ budgets, the next few years will see worse to come. In addition the Westminster Government has called for a further £5bn in efficiency savings which may see Wales lose a further £300m in public expenditure. In this environment tough choices will be needed including for the Assembly itself and its promise to deliver on all the ‘One Wales’ commitments.”
“Protecting front line services remains the main priority for every Welsh council. This is evidenced by today’s average council tax rise. Again at this early stage of funding discussions we call on the Welsh Assembly Government to work with the public sector to protect employment and ensure that education, social services, housing and other key local government services are top of the agenda in future budget discussions.
“Councils have been vigilant in urging people to get in touch with their councils over the last several months to ensure that they claim all of the benefits to which they are entitled. Indeed, there has been a significant increase in the number of housing benefit applications being made across Wales and the number of people seeking welfare advice.”
Ends