COUNCIL tax is set to rise by 5.95% in Swansea from April, according to the latest figures.
Doing so would net the authority £165.3 million in 2025-26 compared to £154 million this year and help address some of the significant financial pressures heading its way.
It would mean Band D households paying £1,739.61p compared to £1,641.95 currently – a rise of £97.66p – and that doesn’t include the South Wales Police precept or any community council precept.
Cabinet members will discuss the latest budget proposals next week ahead of a full council meeting on March 6 when the budget, including council tax, will be set.
The social services department is in line to receive £196m next year, a significant increase on the £170.6 million it got this year.
Another winner will be schools, which are set to receive £213.6 million compared to £201.8m in 2024-25.
Expenditure on the council’s place department, which includes waste management and roads, is expected to rise from £88.2 million to £98.4 million.
The only department which could lose out – but only by £22,000 – is the authority’s in-house education service, which is in line to get £15 million.
All in all the council proposes spending £584.3 million on its key services – nearly £51 million more than currently.
Factor in debt repayment costs and Swansea’s contribution to the Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service budget, among other things, and the total day-to-day expenditure is forecast to be £643.1 million.
This £643.1 million will be financed mainly by the Welsh Government’s £379.2 million revenue support grant, £165.3 million council tax, and £89.1 million via a share of business rates.
Council leader Rob Stewart said: “Despite facing some of the most severe rises in demand for critical services we have ever seen, and continued pressures from inflation, high energy prices, and the impacts of the cost-of-living crisis we are able to provide record investment this year.
“That is thanks to a significantly improved settlement for Wales from the new UK Government, which has helped the Welsh Government provide a better than expected settlement for local councils in Wales.
“In Swansea we have a strong track record of using taxpayers money wisely and driving down our costs of services which means we can now put record levels of funding into vital services.”
The council said schools would actually be better off than the figures suggest because a previous one-off investment of £11.5 million was now a regular component of their annual budget.
However, schools will be expected to make savings of £4.5 million while other departments must cut their cloth by £13.9 million, although measures will include higher fees and charges rather than just cuts.
All of Wales’s 22 councils are busy finalising their 2025-26 budget plans and will hope for some eleventh hour additional funding from the Welsh Government, which is due to announce its final settlement on February 20 ahead of a budget meeting in the Senedd on March 4.
Carmarthenshire Council has proposed a 9.75% council tax hike, while Neath Port Talbot Council is looking at a 7% rise.
Swansea’s Labour-run council has previously said part of the reason it has to increase council tax is because of inflation-busting increases in the Mid and West Wales Fire Service budget, which it has no control over but has to fund. The tune hasn’t changed this time round, with around 0.75% of the 5.95% increase being attributed to a higher fire service levy.
Cllr Stewart said the 5.95% rise would, though, be one of the lowest in Wales. “We know families across the UK are struggling with the long effects of the cost-of-living crisis that hit a few years ago, and we will continue to do all we can locally to support them through difficult times,” he said.
“We’re also protecting frontline services at a time when many other councils in England and Wales are having to consider going to monthly bin collections, closing leisure centres and libraries and cutting back on school crossing patrols and bus service subsidies.”
A budget consultation running until February 16 has prompted more than 250 responses so far.
A total of 60% of respondents said they’d accept council tax increases in line with inflation levels. Prices rose by an average of 2.5% in December – the most recent month figures are available for.
Just over three-quarters of respondents said they’d prefer the council to deliver services in a different way rather than lose them. A similar proportion backed maintaining reduced parking charges in city centre car parks.
People’s priorities for investment were, in descending order, road repairs, care for older people and disabled adults, parks and green spaces, refuse collection, street cleaning, keeping children safe, and school improvements.
Opposition leader, Cllr Chris Holley, said there were huge pressures on social services and education. He said the amount the council was paying back on loans was also increasing.
The Swansea Liberal Democrat leader said he’d prefer a council tax rise of 5% or 4% than 5.95% given the financial pressures being felt by the public. “We will look to see if we can get it down,” he said.
