Council tax rise below inflation

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Average council tax increases in Wales in the next financial year will be the lowest for more than a decade, according to local government leaders.

The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) made the prediction in the light of a survey it conducted.

It said it expected the average increase in council tax for a band D property to be set at about 3.6%.

That is just below the Retail Price Increase (RPI), which measures changes in prices to calculate inflation.

At present the RPI is running at 3.7%.

The WLGA said that would put the bill for an average band D property at £926.52, or an increase of 62p a week on 2009-10.

This reflects a determined effort to keep council tax increases at a reasonable level John Davies, Welsh Local Government Association

The WLGA claims that this would be the lowest rise "since devolution". The Welsh assembly was officially opened in May 1999.

The survey on which the prediction is based was conducted by the WLGA in conjunction with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).

WLGA finance spokesperson Rodney Berman, the leader of Cardiff council, said local authorities across Wales recognised that everyone iwas feeling the pinch as a result of the recession and had sought to keep council tax increases as low as possible while protecting front line services.

He said: "This has been a tough budget round with councils facing severe pressures on their finances.

"Across Wales authorities are striving to make service delivery more efficient, ensuring that public money is spent on providing quality front line services to our most vulnerable citizens. "

John Davies, leader of the WLGA and Pembrokeshire council, said he was glad to see the predicted average council tax increase across Wales for 2010-11 at just below the current rate of inflation.

He said: "This reflects a determined effort to keep council tax increases at a reasonable level, despite receiving the lowest increase in assembly government support since devolution and seeing increasing demands for local services and reducing income."

Mr Davies said the next few years would be extremely tough for public sector spending and that councils must therefore be "prudent" in setting council tax to ensure sufficient funds for the medium term, as well as for the next financial year.

He added: "It remains to be seen whether councils will be able to provide the same level of services or to employ the same number of staff - redundancies have already been seen across Welsh councils."