Authority slammed for claiming tax rise is inevitable

Richard Evans, Local democracy reporter

The leader of a Welsh council’s opposition has slammed the authority for claiming another council tax rise in April is “inevitable”.

Conwy County Council is conducting a public survey on the budget, citing a £20.4m shortfall in the 2026/27 budget.

The authority is asking residents if they “agree or disagree” with various cost-cutting measures, as well as ways to generate funds.

Conwy County Council has raised council tax by around 30% in the last three years, blaming a poor local government settlement from the Welsh Government, who regularly allocate more to other authorities.

The raise has attracted criticism as the council has also slashed services in recent years, including education budgets.

On its website, the council called another council tax rise inevitable, claiming Conwy county has regularly received the lowest percentage rise in Wales in its annual local government settlement.

“Each 1% increase in council tax is expected to raise an additional £866,000 and increase a Band D property’s tax by £18.88 a year (36p a week),” said the council.

“It is not possible to close the budget gap using council tax alone. Despite a history of keeping council tax comparably low, an increase is inevitable given the current pressures. An increase will not remove the need for service reductions.”

But the leader of the opposition, Conservative councillor Cheryl Carlisle, has slammed the claim that the rise is “inevitable”.

“Yet another council tax rise should not be inevitable,” she said.

“Three and a half years of poor decision making by the previous Independent, Labour, Plaid-led cabinet coalition has saddled the residents of Conwy with record levels of debt repayments, service cuts, and wallet-busting council tax rises. It can’t continue; the people of Conwy deserve better.”

Conwy County Council also said on its website: “Approximately 70% of the council’s funding comes from the Welsh Government.

“We received notification of our draft local government settlement towards the end of November, confirming a 2.3% increase.

“Together with other transfers into the budget, this equated to just £6.3 million in additional funding for Conwy.

“On 11 December, Welsh Government announced further funding for all councils, which will increase our allocation for 2026/27 to 4.1%.

“This is a positive development and, with other adjustments, raises our additional funding for 2026/27 to £10.9 million. However, 4.1% remains the lowest percentage uplift of any council in Wales.”

The statement added: “While this extra funding is welcome and much needed, Conwy continues to face significant financial pressures in meeting service demands. The amount will not be sufficient to close the funding gap and difficult decisions will still be required to balance the budget.”

Residents have until 23 January to complete the survey, which you can find here.