Council tax to go up 2.9% under new proposals

COUNCIL tax in the Vale of Glamorgan is set to increase by 2.9% in April under new budget proposals.

The budget includes investing millions of pounds into local public services across the county.

But a key part of the budget involves raising the rate Vale residents pay in their council tax, which will add to the ongoing cost of living crisis, as energy bills will are set to skyrocket in April.

Details of the latest budget proposals were revealed in a recent cabinet report, which said: “The proposed increase in council tax at 2.9% is a reasonable compromise between the pressure on services and the financial pressures facing council taxpayers.”

Councils in Wales received a bumper settlement from the

Welsh Government this year, partly to cover the ongoing cost of responding to the pandemic, and also new policies such as paying care workers the real living wage and providing more free school meals.

This year, Vale of Glamorgan council’s settlement has increased by 10.5%, meaning an extra

£17.9m income for the budget. Increases in the settlement for future years are expected to be much less, with 3.5% in 2023-24 and 2.4% in 2024-25.

Savings next year will be targeted at just £500,000, much less than in previous years, but the same as this year.

The budget proposals, including the council tax increase, must first be approved by the full council. A key vote is scheduled for March 7, when opposition councillors will set out their alternative proposals - what they would do instead if they ran the council.

A public consultation was held by the council to gather views on how much to raise council tax and what spending priorities should be. 342 responded to the consultation this year, which was much higher than last year when only 16 people responded.