County’s council tax bills to rise by over 6% despite affordability concerns

Nicholas Thomas, Local democracy reporter

Council tax bills in a south Wales county will rise by 6.25% in April despite increasing concerns over affordability.

Opposition councillors in Caerphilly have questioned whether residents would be able to cope with higher bills given wider cost-of-living pressures.

But cabinet members at the Labour-led county borough council said the new budget would avoid unpopular service cuts, and Caerphilly would remain one of the cheapest areas of Wales for council tax.

After a lengthy debate on Tuesday evening, a majority of councillors ultimately backed the 2026/27 budget proposals, which also include commitments to improve the look and feel of the borough’s public spaces.

Cllr Eluned Stenner, the cabinet member for finance, said the budget would “continue to protect key services and meet the needs of our residents”, in the face of “unprecedented pressures” on local government.

She told councillors the local authority would need to make another £8.5 million of savings by the spring of 2029.

Cllr Charlotte Bishop, who leads the council’s Plaid Cymru group, warned “watching bills rise faster than income is extremely distressing”, including for working households that may not qualify for council tax relief.

Plaid councillor Greg Ead said the “cumulative effects” of yearly council tax rises were “significant”, while his party colleague, Cllr Colin Mann, said the overall increases to bills were “horrendous”.

Cllr Nigel Dix, leader of the independents, said residents were seeing other bills rise, and urged the council leader – Cllr Jamie Pritchard – to pressure the Welsh Government for a better deal.

Cllr Pritchard said he spoke “constantly” to the Welsh and UK Governments.

His predecessor, Cllr Sean Morgan – who is now a Green Party representative – warned local government was in a “doom loop”, where austerity was driving higher demand for cash-strapped councils’ services.

Cllr Pritchard agreed councils had been “pushed to the brink” with funding and “austerity has been here for a hell of a long time”.

“I don’t think many people go into local government to cut services,” he said, adding he believed the new budget includes “genuine growth” for the borough, including a 50% increase in funding for the council’s ‘cleaner and greener’ project.

Two councillors were unsuccessful in making last-ditch amendments to the budget, which passed by a majority vote.

Plaid councillor Gary Enright had called for a lower council tax increase of 4.25%, potentially funded through the use of reserves.

Earlier on Tuesday, a cabinet meeting heard the council’s overall reserves were due to shrink by three quarters over the next two years.

Following the budget vote, Cllr Enright said the move would have alleviated some of the cost pressures on family budgets, adding “this Labour administration voted against my motion, instead of supporting and recognising residents’ needs”.

Cllr Kevin Etheridge’s own amendment called for the budget to avoid proposed staffing cuts in the council’s CCTV control room and to scrap proposed 1% budget shrinkages for schools.

He later said the decision not to support his amendment meant “safety and education are under threat”.

After the meeting, Cllr Stenner defended the planned council tax rise.

She said: “It is important to note that, even with a 6.25% increase, our residents will still continue to pay one of the lowest levels of council tax in Wales.

“I appreciate that none of us want to see an increase in council tax, but for every 1% we take off the 6.25% increase, we would need to find an additional £0.785 million in savings elsewhere.”

However, Cllr Bishop warned: “We cannot continue presenting residents with what feels like a crisis budget every year – asking them to absorb the impact while uncertainty remains ahead.”