Council tax

Elin JonesPlaid

14 October 2026, Plenary

Reform UK Debate: Local referendums on council tax rises

…of this year for Reform-led Worcestershire County Council, and they received permission to increase council tax by 9 per cent, which is higher than any increase seen across Wales this year. The average increase in Wales this year at council level was 4.8 per cent, which is the lowest average…

Tagged for: “council tax”Translated from WelshOfficial Record

Elin JonesPlaid

14 October 2026, Plenary

Reform UK Debate: Local referendums on council tax rises

Llywydd, I welcome this opportunity to contribute to this debate on the proposal for a regime of council tax referenda similar to those seen in England. Plaid Cymru does not believe that the Welsh Government should impose arbitrary and fixed national targets on council tax rises, which disregard…

Tagged for: “council tax”Translated from WelshOfficial Record

Nigel WilliamsReform

14 October 2026, Plenary

Reform UK Debate: Local referendums on council tax rises

I'll take no—. In terms of this—. Where it comes from Plaid, who've operated around Labour in this, we're in this mess, where we are, because of what's happened over the years, because of people there and people here. So I'll take none of that. Reserves are not a magic pot of money that can simply…

Tagged from the title of its item or question: “council tax”Official Record

Nigel WilliamsReform

14 October 2026, Plenary

Reform UK Debate: Local referendums on council tax rises

Well, we all get that brown envelope, don't we, through the post, or sometimes it's an email nowadays? Council tax is not voluntary, is it? It arrives every year and households have got to find the money to pay for it. When a council wants to raise the bill by more than 4.99 per cent, Reform UK…

Tagged for: “Council tax”Official Record

Carrie HarperPlaid

14 October 2026, Plenary

Reform UK Debate: Local referendums on council tax rises

I took your intervention. Councillors have to make difficult decisions, but that's how local democracy works. That's what accountability means. Political leadership isn't just about the promises you make. It's about being responsible for the consequences of your decisions. And the consequences of…

Tagged from the title of its item or question: “council tax”Official Record

Carrie HarperPlaid

14 October 2026, Plenary

Reform UK Debate: Local referendums on council tax rises

I've just explained that councils have faced austerity for the last 16 years. As a county councillor, I've seen that first-hand. But, look, the question that you've got to answer is: if a referendum rejects the increase needed to maintain services, what are you going to cut? Whose jobs are going to…

Tagged from the title of its item or question: “council tax”Official Record

Iain McIntoshReform

14 October 2026, Plenary

Reform UK Debate: Local referendums on council tax rises

…funded properly over the last 27 years and continued to be funded properly, they wouldn't need to put council tax up by more than 4.99 per cent?

Tagged for: “council tax”Official Record

Carrie HarperPlaid

14 October 2026, Plenary

Reform UK Debate: Local referendums on council tax rises

…really struggling in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, and, of course, nobody wants to pay more council tax, especially in these circumstances, and the pressures that are on people at the moment are very real. We recognise that, and that's why this Plaid Cymru Government has prioritised…

Tagged for: “council tax”Official Record

Tom MontgomeryReform

14 October 2026, Plenary

Reform UK Debate: Local referendums on council tax rises

…finance these debts. These debts are a ticking financial time bomb. The solution is not more excessive council tax rises, which is the option that many local authorities will turn to, not more reliance on borrowing, not the decline in offers for mergers. It is not continuing a funding formula system…

Tagged for: “council tax”Official Record

Tom MontgomeryReform

14 October 2026, Plenary

Reform UK Debate: Local referendums on council tax rises

…in Wales are paying more than average. Over the last decade, residents in Denbighshire have seen their council tax rise by 61.9 per cent; in Flintshire, 75 per cent; Wrexham, 76 per cent; and in Conwy, 84 per cent, in a decade. The inflation rate over the same period was 34 per cent. Despite those…

Tagged for: “council tax”Official Record

Tom MontgomeryReform

14 October 2026, Plenary

Reform UK Debate: Local referendums on council tax rises

Before I start—. Mike, I've got to take the bait. You talk of ignorance; we are standing up for taxpayers. Ignorance is your party sitting on its hands for 27 years and doing nothing but cripple our local government. So, let's start—[Interruption.] Yes, of course.

Tagged from the title of its item or question: “council tax”Official Record

Janet Finch-SaundersConservative

14 October 2026, Plenary

Reform UK Debate: Local referendums on council tax rises

…The figures, I won't repeat them again, but—. A £600-plus increase in the average band D council tax bill in Wales over the past five years. The annual band D council tax bill in Conwy County Borough Council being £2,472 and in Kensington and Chelsea, £1,643. How can that be right? After more than…

Tagged for: “council tax”Official Record

Sarah Cooper-LesaddPlaid

14 October 2026, Plenary

Reform UK Debate: Local referendums on council tax rises

Do you accept that there have been instances where councils have been allowed to increase the council tax without a referendum and, actually, some of the worst examples are in Reform-led councils, including Worcestershire, at 9 per cent?

Tagged for: “council tax”Official Record