Welsh authority proposes lowest council tax increase since 2023

Alec Doyle, Local democracy reporter

Council tax in a north Wales county is set to rise by more than 5.4% if councillors approve the 2026/27 budget next week – the lowest increase since 2023.

The base level of council tax – set by Flintshire County Council to fund its services – is 4.98%. North Wales Fire and Rescue Service – which also receives funding from council tax – has requested an additional 0.48% increase for its portion

There will however be no further top-slicing of the education budget – which will actually increase by £4.786m or 3.84%.

While savings have been identified within the portfolio to make it more efficient the authority has not proposed the sort of top-slicing it has implemented in previous years.

Cabinet and full council will debate the budget proposals on Tuesday, February 24.

If approved the 5.46% increase would mean residents in a Band D property in Flintshire would see their council tax rise from £1815.78 per year to £1914.92 – but that figure does not include funding for North Wales Police which is due to increase this year or funding demands from town and community councils across the county which will drive the final figure up further.

The base rate set by Flintshire County Council is the lowest in three years having set previous base rate increases at 7.9% in 2024/25 and 8.93% in 2025/26 to deal with ease significant funding deficits.

This year an improved cash settlement thanks to a funding floor imposed by Welsh Government has allowed the authority to proposed a smaller increase. Flintshire will receive £294.09m in its Welsh Government Settlement – £5.219m more than originally anticipated.

But the authority has still had to contend with a significant deficit position, with officers having to balance a projected £9.519m budget gap.

A proposed saving of around £2m has bee found through reviewing Out of County Placements and revised pay modelling for council staff and teachers.

Another £2m has been saved through what the authority calls ‘transformation’ – reviewing internal processes and ways of working to improve efficiency.

Every departmental scrutiny committee was asked to propose savings and a further £1.8m has been found as a result.

By drawing down on a £1.3m surplus on the council’s pension contributions officers have been able to present a balanced budget for elected members to consider.

“There continues to be some significant open risks within the 2026/27 budget proposals, particularly around social care and homelessness demand levels and out of county placements,” Chief Finance Officer Gary Ferguson wrote in his report for members.

“The increase in our Aggregate External Finance (Welsh Government Settlement) for 2026/27 was better than initially anticipated but still does not meet our escalating cost base. There are no indicative allocations for 2027/28, and beyond which will again make our financial planning arrangements extremely challenging.

“It is important that, as far as it is able, the Council protects its current level of reserves to safeguard against these risks.”

Council Chief Executive Neil Cockerton added: “. Whilst the improved Welsh Government financial settlement position is clearly helpful, Flintshire continues to remain an underfunded council.

“This increase does not address the financial challenges the council continues to face. There are no cost reductions of scale beyond those reported in the budget setting process, and our strategy for achieving a legal and balanced budget is heavily reliant on the sufficiency of Government funding for local government and public services.

“I am concerned about the specific financial risk relating to Social Services, Streetscene Services and Education. These services are currently exposed to a number of demand led pressures which are challenging to manage and often difficult to predict, they are, in a number of cases, also delivered to some of our most vulnerable.

“What is clear is that pressure in these areas will continue and is likely to increase, this is not a situation unique to Flintshire but is compounded by the national underfunded position of Flintshire.”

Cabinet will consider the budget report at 9am on Tuesday, February 24 before full council meets to debate the report from 11am.