Residents in a Welsh county could see almost 5% rise in council tax bills

Lewis Smith, Local democracy reporter

Residents in Bridgend county borough could see a 4.95% rise in their council tax bills from April after a planned increase was announced in the council’s draft budget for the 2026-27 financial year.

If eventually given the go-ahead the proposals would deliver a net revenue budget worth around £403m to support its front-line services such as education, social care, refuse collection, and highways maintenance across the county borough.

Following the provisional settlement from the Welsh Government in December, 2025, Bridgend’s budget will increase by 4.6% providing the council with an extra £5m worth of funding.

This could see a final version of the plan allocating a potential £167m to the Education, Early Years and Young People directorate, £127m to Social Services and £35m to Communities.

The proposals will be discussed following a series of recommendations that were made by a cross-party scrutiny group in December 2025 to feed in to the budget work carried out by cabinet members and officers.

These included carrying out a review of how the council’s directorates are structured and how they work, with an additional review of how council buildings are being used and what assets could be released.

Speaking ahead of the budget consultation, a council spokesperson said: “The draft budget proposals focus on protecting front-line services, prioritising support for the most vulnerable, while including a net increase in funding to schools, children’s services and adult services.

“This ensures that there will be no savings targets for schools across Bridgend County Borough next year.

“The council funds hundreds of different services and has a legal responsibility to set a balanced budget every year.”

Cllr Hywel Williams, who is cabinet member for finance and performance, added: “Like all local authorities across Wales and the United Kingdom, we are still facing many ongoing financial challenges.

“However, it’s pleasing that we have received an increase in funding of 4.6% from Welsh Government this year and this has helped to reduce our funding gap for the forthcoming financial year.

“Our pre-budget campaign made clear to the public about what services we are and aren’t responsible for as well as including information about how our total budget is funded.

“The majority of our budget comes from Welsh Government’s Revenue Support Grant, with Council Tax only accounting for around 20% of our overall budget.”

The draft plan will be now considered by the council’s cabinet on January 13 before going to scrutiny and final approval at council meeting scheduled for on February 25, 2026.

Members of the public in Bridgend have also been encouraged to have their say on the plans ahead of this, through an online consultation that will be available until January 27, 2026.