Council set to vote on one of the biggest council tax increases in Wales

Kieran Molloy, Local democracy reporter

Vale of Glamorgan Council is set to vote on one of the biggest council tax increases in Wales.

The proposed budget includes a 5.5% council tax increase for the 2026-27 financial year.

For a Band D property this is equivalent to an extra £1.75 per week.

This is a greater increase from other Welsh councils such as Swansea (3.9%), Carmarthenshire (4.9%), Cardiff (3.9%), Newport (4.9%), and Bridgend (4.95%).

However it is lower than Monmouthshire (5.95%) and Caerphilly (6.35%) councils.

The report that outlines the proposal reads: “It is significant that increases in council tax in the Vale of Glamorgan have been lower than the average increases across Wales for the past three years with the Band D charge consequently moving significantly below the median.”

It continues: “This is a trend that appears likely to continue (at current forecasts) into 2026-27.

“Regardless of this developing and continuing trend it is important that council tax revenues are maintained to ensure the future sustainability of the council’s finances, and this is especially the case given the uncertainty on government funding in 2027-28 and 2028-29.”

Documents also revealed a budget gap of £6.584m which will be plugged through a “mix of reshaping and tactical savings initiatives”.

For 2026-27, £3.812m of the gap is met through the “reduction of pension costs” with £2.772m being delivered through “reshaping and savings”.

Other developments revealed in council documents include the increasing proportion of the council’s resources taken up by schools and social costs.

In 2025-26 these costs took up 71% of council resources, up from 70% in 2024/25 and 68% in 2023/24.

But this trend is paused in 2026-27 due in large part to the reduction in employer pension contributions.

The council also benefited from an improved settlement from the Welsh Government of 4.5%, up from 2.5% in the initial provisional settlement.

The report reads: “Whilst the settlement was better than anticipated it does fall short of the resource required to meet the growing ALN (additional learning needs) and social care demands and the pressure of the NI increases in the chancellor’s budget on externally provided service provision.”

The council is faced with financial pressures of £28.227m for 2026-27, with underlying pressure of £35.393m.

The council tax increase will go before the full council on March 9.