4% council tax rise on the way for county borough residents

Anthony Lewis, Local democracy reporter.

A 4% council tax rise is on the way for residents of a south Wales county borough as the council approved their 2026/26 budget. 

The budget Rhondda Cynon Taff budget, approved by full council on 4 March, includes an extra £1m for additional learning needs (ALN) and special schools, £6.33m in efficiency cuts, £412,000 in income from fees and charges, and an increase to the local business rates relief scheme costing £230,000. 

These proposals would leave the council facing a £911,000 budget gap, which it plans to plug using money from the transition funding reserve, which stands at £4.74m, and £3.83m would be left in there after this use. 

In the final settlement, the council received a 4.5% increase in funding from the Welsh Government, and after considering the updated council budget requirement, the final settlement increase, and the council’s updated tax base, the council was faced with a remaining budget gap of £6.42m at this point. 

The 4% increase in council tax equates to a 91p per week rise for a person living in a band A property, and a £1.36 per week rise for a person living in a band D property, and the report says 42% of properties in Rhondda Cynon Taf are band A. 

Maintaining the level of council tax increase at 4%, in line with previous assumptions, will not have an impact on the remaining budget gap, the cabinet report says. 

In terms of schools, the council’s proposals would see schools allocated funding next year to cover in full all their pay and non-pay inflationary costs plus service pressures, and the report says this will see the schools’ budget fully funded for next year. 

A further £1m has been included to enhance capacity across RCT’s additional learning needs and special school provision. 

The report says this will see the school’s budget increase by £10.4m for next year, or 4.8%, but that the individual school’s budget will be further adjusted to reflect transfers into the settlement and requirements for employee and non-employee costs, so it will increase by £12m or 5.6%. 

The report says officers have identified a range of efficiency measures which
can be delivered and which would reduce the budget requirement by £6.33m, and that they can provide assurance that the measures proposed can be delivered operationally with any detrimental impact on frontline services being “appropriately mitigated”. 

These include general efficiencies such as cost reduction measures (£3.03m), non-pay expenditure freeze (£976,000), service restructuring and vacancy management (£1.26m), and the use of external funding and recharges (£1.06m). 

There is a standard 5% increase in fees and charges being proposed with some areas having their own treatment and altogether these proposals would bring in £412,000 to the council. 

The cabinet’s proposals for car parking charges will be taken forward to full council rather than the proposed alternative from opposition councillors. 

Responding to Welsh Government changes on business rates RCT is proposing that the level of relief in its local business rate relief scheme be increased from £500 to £625 for the financial year 2026-27 with a view to a further increase to £750 for financial year 2027-28. 

It is estimated around 1,400 businesses would benefit from this relief and the cost of this increase would be £230,000 for financial year 2026-27. 

Councillor Andrew Morgan, Labour leader of the council, said he was pleased to say that this was largely a no-cuts budget. 

“It’s nice to see that we’ve not had to consult on any major changes to services, reductions to staff et cetera. 

“There is substantial investment going into schools and social care.” 

He said in the first phase of the public consultation it was clear the public’s priorities were education, social services, and frontline services like highways and these areas gained the most in terms of resources. 

“This is overall a positive position. It does invest in services. It maintains services.” 

He said the council tax rise was among the lowest quartile in Wales. 

He gave credit to UK Government for putting in extra funding through the Barnett Formula and he said there were constructive conversations with the leaders of Plaid, the Conservatives, and the Liberal Democrats in the Senedd. 

Councillor Sera Evans of Plaid Cymru said they must all be pleased and relieved the final settlement for local government was as generous as it was. 

She said Plaid Cymru, in the wider public interest, brokered a deal with Welsh Government and abstained on the budget vote leading to an extra £112.8m for local government. 

Cllr Evans said Plaid didn’t support the Labour budget but recognised the need for extra funding for local government and the NHS in Wales and acted accordingly. 

She said it was thanks to the determination and negotiating skills of Plaid Cymru MS and former RCT councillor Heledd Fychan that the 2.9% increase in funding was now 4.5%, meaning the council can fully fund schools to a level never known before, keep the council tax increase to a level less than last year, and release reserves to bridge the remaining budget gap. 

But Cllr Evans said there are issues to take forward, such as the recent changes in waste collection and school transport. 

She said: “It is clear from the consultation responses that our residents are living with increasing cost of living pressures and are concerned that they are paying more for less.” 

Councillor Cathy Lisles of the RCT Independent Group said if they voted to accept the budget, they could breathe a sigh of relief as this year they’d have dodged a bullet. 

She said there were no care home closures or massive school transport changes and efficiency savings were limited. 

She said the budget had been balanced and thanked officers for ensuring the financial stability of the council but as they move into 2026 the world looks increasingly unstable. 

She also asked about the effects of cuts to backroom services when everything slows down and takes so much longer because those staff are no longer there. 

Cllr Lisles asked if residents see or know the effect on services like planning enforcement, legal services, or public rights of way work and said: “I think they do.”