6.5% council tax increase would raise over £5 million for a cash-strapped Welsh council

Richard Evans, Local democracy reporter

Conwy County Council has proposed to raise an extra £5.632m by upping council tax by 6.5%.

The cash-strapped authority will plug a £7.968m resource shortfall with £2.236m of service cuts, £100,000 from reserves, and £5.632m from council tax.

The budget discussions are set to go ahead on Monday (February 23) at a finance committee before full council will debate the matter on Thursday, setting the council tax levels for the year.

The rise amounts to a band D equivalent increase of around £122.75 a year or around £2.36 a week, with the council taking £115 and North Wales Fire and Rescue Service taking £7.74 approximately.

The increase raises council tax to £2,011.26 a year for a band D property.

The rise follows a 30% increase in council tax in the last three years alone.

Colwyn Bay Town councillor Phil Ashe said the council should be ashamed.

“This is another record-breaking increase by Conwy. It is the fourth highest in Conwy’s history. This is the first time that band D council tax in Conwy will be over £2,000 per year,” he said.

“That means, over the last 10 years, the council tax bill alone, before you add on the town council and police precepts, has gone up £1,000.

“Almost 60% of that has happened in the last four years. The council should be ashamed of themselves.”

Llandudno Conservative county councillor Harry Saville said: “This year’s proposed council tax increase is the fourth highest ever in Conwy, costing the average household an extra £122.76 per year and pushing the County Borough Council’s share of council tax above £2,000 for the first time in Conwy.

“The council faces some significant financial challenges, but hard-pressed council tax payers will be rightly frustrated and angry that they aren’t seeing any significant let-up after three years of record-breaking council tax hikes from Conwy’s Labour/Plaid Cymru/Green/independent administration.”

He added: “The council must get to grips with the huge council tax increases seen in recent years and keep any increases as low as possible.”

Cllr Chris Cater, cabinet member for finance and strategic planning, responded: “Elected Members will be familiar with the funding gap we face in Conwy and how the nearly £11m extra new funding from Welsh Government to support our pressures does not cover this in full.

“There are inherent risks in each option to bridge the gap as we focus on bringing a balanced 2026/2027 budget to full council for approval.

“Cabinet have supported the business cases in full but have accepted £2.236m savings will come from services.

“This excludes schools – we have proposed that schools are ringfenced and funded on a standstill, no reduction basis.”

He added: “Holding sufficient balances is crucial to deal with unforeseen events and to mitigate risks.

“Balances are one-off in nature and we have been advised by our S151 officer that, if anything, we should seek to increase the level of reserves to continue to provide appropriate resilience.

“It is only proposed to use £100,000 from reserves, and this is explained in the report.

“As all the factors are taken into consideration, positive and negative, we are left with a revised remaining shortfall of £5.632m.

“Consequently, a significant contribution will be needed from an increase in council tax.

“The report puts this increase at 6.09% for council services and an additional 0.41% for the North Wales Fire & Rescue Authority.”