The leader of the organisation that represents Welsh councils has warned of potential council tax increases of 5% from next year.
The Welsh Government’s draft budget, published yesterday, will see council funding fall by between 1.5% and 2% after inflation next April.
Debbie Wilcox, the leader of the Welsh Local Government Association, told BBC Wales that tax increases of around 5% were possible.
In statement published yesterday, she said: “It is becoming harder and harder to find the words to describe how austerity is wearing down and eroding public services.
Since becoming leader of the WLGA, I have consistently stated that austerity is an idea ‘with a great future behind it’. The impact on our services, our communities that use them and the workforce that provide them has been devastating. My consistent message is that our services are a force for good, they are the cement which lock communities together.”
Caerphilly County Borough Council, in previous council budget reports, has estimated that a tax rise of around 2.35% was probable for 2018/19. However this was based on the assumption that funding would be cut by 1.4%.
The Welsh Government is due to publish council financial settlements on Tuesday, October 10.
Budget Details
Details of Wales’ draft £15 billion budget were announced yesterday after Labour, which is in power with a minority government, did a deal with Plaid Cymru.
It is a significant departure from previous years as, for the first time, around £2.4bn of revenue will come from two devolved taxes rather than all of the money coming from the UK Government.
House buyers will no longer pay stamp duty, but will instead have to pay land transaction tax.
House sales of £150,000 and lower will be tax free – £25,000 more than it is now – but homes worth £400,000 and up to £750,000 will face a 7.5% rate. Those over £750,000 face a 10% charge.
Also from April, landfill tax is coming under the control of the Welsh Government and will become landfill disposals tax. Under powers devolved to Wales, people caught dumping unauthorised waste could face paying 150% of the standard rate.
The NHS accounts for around half of the £15bn Welsh budget and it will see an increase in spending of around 1% in real terms. In 2018/19 it will get an extra £230m while in 2019/20 it will get a further £220m.
Most other Welsh Government departments are facing cuts such as education (down 2.37%); environment and rural affairs (-15.27%).
The Welsh Government also announced plans to borrow around £375m for capital projects over the next three years – the first time it has been allowed to borrow cash.
This what happends when you continue to elect Labour, they have became more like a dictorship here in wales and with plaid by their side. Wales has no hope.
Those who continue to vote Welsh Labour into power must be over joyed with constant unjustified increases in their council tax, and are looking forward to being hammered with another 5% increase.
Carwyn as usual will simply blame it all on Westminster and BREXIT, truth is Welsh Labour are failing Wales, and now with the power to raise tax the old boys Labour club down the bay will make Wales a very unattractive place to live and work, and they want to introduce a tourism tax to punish those who wish to come and visit, you’re quite right Edward as long as Labour are in power Wales has no hope.
The problem we have is that people in our area have been voting labour for decades not because of their policies but because their grandparents and great grandparents voted labour. The majority of people do not read the policies of labour and vote for them because of traditions in the family. In the valleys in particular people look down on you and even give you abuse if you disagree with labour. I personally am a conservative however I do read their policies and if I disagree I change parties to one I do agree with. Carwyn is always willing to blame other people for their problems and goof ups.
And Welsh Labour know very well they will get the heredity vote for many years to come, regardless of the fact that they no longer represent ordinary working class people. Wales has the weakest economy in the UK, is the poorest part of the UK. is bottom of every education league table going, the cosy old boys club down at the bay needs shutting down, their plan is only to tax us more as is the Labour way, if the 22 Welsh councils become just 3 it would save us billions, they wouldn’t need to raise council tax and would have cash to spare on the Welsh NHS and a decent education for school children.
We should get rid of Welsh Government and “Carwyns Crew” and reduce the number of Welsh Councils – this is the only sure way to stop the beauracracy and the massive amounts of money that is being wasted.
As you say – there seems little we can do about those who mindlessly vote Labour in election after election – “because thats what they’ve always done”
Its no coincidence that councils didn’t increase council tax before the election !
We’ve become the forgotten nation – we’ve always been a proud nation ,but its about time we all started speaking out and challenging Welsh Government and Local Authorities instead of them dictating to us !
Sadly it all comes down to who we vote for. So long as the people vote according to tradition rather than reality and allow their views to be shaped by the BBC we will continue with this status quo.
The BBC are totally biased – why are they allowed to get away with it ?
As an organisation they should be portraying a balanced view when they report on anything.
What I have noticed in recent deades is that the culture of the BBC has changed. It never was impartial, but reflected the more deferential attitudes of those days.
Now the BBC has a different culture, it is pro EU, pro diversity, pro equality and so on. As all the BBC staffers have this view they cannot understand why anyone would think differently. This is why anyone who does have a contrary opinion is labelled ‘far right’ or ‘extreme’ etc.
It is sometimes hilarious when they use labels like this, a good example is Ann Marie Waters. She happens to be a lesbian woman and is from a left wing background but does not say the things the BBC expects from someone like her so is painted as ‘far right’ because she voices an opinion on a particular religion and its laws.
Another change in the BBC is the habit of presenters to make no secret of their own political opinion when conducting inyterviews. Personally I do not want to hear the views of Jeremy Vine or Jason Mohammed but am more interested in the views of whoever it happens to be that they are interviewing.
Slight correction there Richard. The bbc is not interested in equality but only the equality of outcome.
I fully agree, I did not make it clear what I meant. I am in favour of equality – which means equality of opportunity – the BBC culture, just like Tory and Labour, want something different.
This is why the establishment is against Grammar schools where the children of the poor could go head to head against the children of the wealthy and win.
Equality to the average BBC staffer means that those from a poor background that do not share their world view are excluded by dint of their lack of education. We have an excellent case study with the vote to leave the EU. The voters ‘were mislead’, ‘they did not understand the complexity’, the leave campaign ‘lied’ and all the rest of the ridiculous arguments they spout.
bourgeois Broadcasting company.
Yes the BBC are representative of a certain strata of society. True impartiality is difficult to achieve and just about every part of the media either struggles to achieve this or does not bother to try.
This why I read everything, from left wing to right and everything in between. That way I get to form a rational opinion. Most people don’t bother and stick to one newspaper or get all their information from the BBC or Sky News.
I fully accept that others do the same as I do and come up with a different conclusion to me. The BBC cannot bear this idea, anyone who dares to differ from their world view is considered ‘extreme.’ This is why the BBC is dangerous, it pretends to be impartial and the voice of resonable behaiour. It is neither and is allowed to continue to shape public opinion because this suits the two rival political parties that run the country.