Nation.Cymru staff
Plans to update council tax bands in Wales are to be postponed until the next Senedd term after ministers estimated that support for households facing higher bills could cost up to £80 million in the first year.
Finance Minister Elin Jones said legislation to defer the revaluation would be brought forward next month, with the Welsh Government looking instead at more targeted changes to the system.
Council tax bands remain based on property values from 2003. Research cited by the government suggests a revaluation could have moved around a quarter of households into a higher band and another quarter into a lower one, with roughly half seeing minimal change.
Some households facing increases could have paid hundreds of pounds more each year.
Ms Jones told the Senedd that work over the summer had examined the costs of implementing the changes and helping households through the transition.
“That’s a serious amount of money at a genuinely difficult time for public finances, with real pressures this year, especially in the NHS, and less funding coming from the UK Government going forward,” she said.
“It wouldn’t have been fair to press ahead with this without fully supporting households, particularly at a time when household budgets are under significant pressure.”
The minister said spending priorities included NHS waiting lists, childcare, jobs and education. She maintained that the existing council tax system was unfair and that the delay did not mean abandoning reform.
“We’ll spend this time looking at other, more targeted ways to improve the system that don’t come with the same price tag, and we welcome any ideas,” she said.
Council leaders
Council leaders will assess the impact on local finances and services at a Welsh Local Government Association executive board meeting later this week.
Councillor Anthony Hunt, the WLGA’s leader and finance spokesperson, said: “It is vital that Welsh Government and local government work together to understand the implications and shape the way forward, recognising the role councils play in delivering essential services to communities across Wales.”
The Welsh Conservatives called for the revaluation to be scrapped altogether.
Shadow finance minister Sam Rowlands said: “Instead of this cynical decision to simply delay this council tax bombshell, Plaid Cymru ministers should scrap it altogether.”
Mr Rowlands also called for a 5% cap on council tax increases, with councils required to hold a local referendum if they wanted to exceed it.
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