3.9% council tax rise approved by Welsh council’s cabinet

Richard Youle, Local democracy reporter

A broad set of budget proposals including a 3.9% council tax rise has been approved by a city council’s cabinet.

It’ll now be up to Swansea’s full council to agree the final budget to fund schools, social care, waste collection and road maintenance among other day-to-day services.

Assuming the proposals are passed in their current form the revenue budget for 2026-27 will be £677.5 million. Schools and social services – by far the largest two sources of expenditure – would get uplifts of 5.7% and 5.5% respectively.

Although perennial pressures will bear down on the council’s finances, requiring savings of £12.7 million, a cabinet report said “it must equally be borne in mind that approximately £60 million is being added” to the budget.

One reason for that is an extra 5.7% of funding coming from the Welsh Government.

Funding for Swansea’s proposed £677.5 million budget would consist of a £415.5 million revenue support grant from Cardiff Bay and an £87.2 million share of business rates. The remaining £174.8 million would be generated by council tax.

Council leader Rob Stewart said the planned 3.9% council tax rise was the third lowest increase proposed by Wales’s 22 councils in 2026-27. It was a balance, he said, of “keeping bills as low as we can while providing record investment” in services the public use.

If approved by full council on March 5 the 3.9% council tax rise would mean Band D households paying £1,807.38p in the coming financial year. This doesn’t include the South Wales Police precept or any town or community council precept.

The £677.5 million budget would also cover borrowing costs totalling £34.9 million and a £20.5 million Mid and West Wales Fire Service levy.

A public consultation about the budget led to 553 responses. People were asked which areas they’d like to see the council invest in, and 70% said road repairs, 51% said care for older people and disabled adults, 44% said school improvements, 41% said keeping children safe, 39% said street cleaning, and 39% also said parks and green spaces.

As a result, some savings look likely to be removed from the budget. These include proposed charges for garden waste bags and a proposed £150,000 cut to the bridleways and footpaths budget.

And five new items of expenditure totalling £1.1 million could be added, such a £474,000 expansion of a street cleaning service and a £250,000 allocation for flood protection.

Councillors have been scrutinising the budget proposals in recent days and opposition leader Cllr Chris Holley set out some of the emerging themes at the cabinet meeting.

He said councillors had questions about rising care costs, funding for pupils with additional learning needs, the level and affordability of council borrowing, whether savings in social services were sustainable, and highways maintenance, among other things.

Cllr Holley, who is leader of the Swansea Liberal Democrats, said he particularly welcomed the 5.7% budget increase planned for schools.

Cllr Stewart said he would respond in writing to Cllr Holley’s pre-decision scrutiny letter.