Local authority to increase council tax to help fund response to major weather events

Anthony Lewis – Local democracy reporter

A 4.7% council tax increase for Rhondda Cynon Taf residents is now on the table for next year to give the council resources to prepare for and respond to future major weather events.

Updated budget proposals for 2025/2026 recommended to full council for approval by cabinet now include a 4.7% council tax increase as opposed to the previously planned 4.5%.

Council leader, Councillor Andrew Morgan, proposed the higher increase in council tax so they could increase the permanent resources available to prepare proactively and respond to major weather events in the future and reduce reliance on one-off funding for the next year.

Increasing council tax by 4.7%, rather than 4.5%, will bring in a further £220,000, the council’s director of finance Barrie Davies said.

Gap

This would mean the council would only have to use £507,000 from its transitional funding reserve as opposed to the previously planned £727,000.

Cllr Morgan said the use of a small amount of transitional funding to fill the gap was probably the right way just for now.

The plan is for schools to be allocated funding next year to cover in full all their pressures, which will see an extra £2m allocated to the individual schools budget (ISB).

This will see the schools budget increase by £11.2m for next year, or 5.6%, the report said. Resources for teachers’ pension costs have been allocated to schools and the ISB base budget requirement has been adjusted to reflect lower energy budget requirements.

The report also highlighted £500,000 of one-off funding which the council used to support the schools budget for 2024-25, ring-fenced for ongoing cost pressures associated with additional learning needs.

Frontline

The report said the schools budget would increase from £198m to £212m, an overall rise of 7%.

A decision to close Cae Glas care home in Hawthorn will reduce the budget gap for next year by a further £1.16m.

Efficiency measures and budget cuts of £5.75m have been found including £3.75m in general efficiencies, £1m in capital charges and interest receivable, and £1m from service restructuring and vacancy management.

The report said officers had provided assurance the measures proposed could be delivered operationally and without a significant detrimental impact on frontline services.

A 5% standard rise in fees and charges is proposed with some areas seeing their own treatment and this will bring in £633,000 in income for the council.

Demand

Cllr Morgan said the 4.7% rise still meant that they were funding schools and social care at significantly increased levels to try and meet the ever growing demand on services.

He said that, based on information from other councils at this point, he believed they’d be the second lowest in terms of the proposed increase.

The overall council revenue budget for 2025-26 is set to be £668.12m.

The provisional funding settlement from Welsh Government for Rhondda Cynon Taf amounted to an increase of 4.8%.

Full council will now consider the budget proposals at a meeting on Wednesday, March 5.