Probable Council Tax rise defended – weekly rise ‘probably a pint of beer so you’ve just got to put it all into perspective”

The level to which council tax will increase in Wrexham from April remains up in the air, council leaders have said.

However, a warning has been sounded that it will be higher than in previous years as the local authority looks to address a £22.6m budget shortfall.

The council has also clarified that a potential increase figure previously reported by Wrexham.com of 12.5 per cent which is needed to plug the gap is infact accurate.

It follows comments made in an Offa Community Council meeting this week in which Hermitage councillor Graham Rogers said he “didn’t believe in talking about newspaper articles”, describing the figure as a “rumour”. Wrexham.com asked the question in the media brief, and is of course, not a newspaper.

The advisory figure was shared with executive board members by the council’s Section 151 Officer, who is responsible for ensuring decision making is financially prudent.

It will ultimately be up to councillors to set the final level of the council tax level, with some suggesting the figure might end up being slightly lower, although this will depend on decisions over cuts and efficiencies to services.

We asked council leader Mark Pritchard about the position in terms of council tax and whether the 12.5% figure was accurate at a media briefing held this week.

He said: “The 151 officer is here to make sure that the finance is correct and sustainable. He has put a figure out there of 12.5%.

“We have put that figure out there and we have put that into the public domain.

“We are working with our coalition members and any other group leader who wants to come and see me to find a way forward for what (level) we set it at.

“I really don’t know what it will be set out. We’ve had weekly meetings on council tax, and we’ve been discussing this every week for probably three months solid. We’re coming to decision time now.

“If you have a look of what’s going on in north Wales, that should give you guidance on where our discussions are at.”

The council has already addressed a number of measures to bring the budget for 2024/25 at a legally balanced level.

The authority’s education budget is set to take a £5.3m hit, with a warning previously sounded that it could result in job losses at schools.

Political leaders have blamed the latest Welsh Government budget settlement for the financial issues.

Elsewhere in North Wales, neighbouring authority Denbighshire saw their cabinet support a council tax rise of 9.34 per cent.

Deputy council leader David A Bithell said councillors were faced with a difficult choice as they look to try and protect key services, comparing the weekly increase in council tax to the cost of a pint of beer.

He said: “I think elected members have got a choice. You can either cut services or you protect the most vulnerable in society and you protect public services.

“I’m a school governor and I don’t want to make cuts to schools and staff.

“School staff are like social workers now, dealing with really complex cases and I have got concerns about schools.

“I’ve also got concerns about elderly people, making sure that we don’t bed block and making sure we allow people independently to live in their own homes, but that comes at a cost.

“People are living longer, and the demand is increasing so I think it all comes down to choices.

“If you’re looking at £3.47 a week for a 12.5 per cent increase in council tax, it’s not a lot of money really, is it?

“It’s probably a pint of beer depending on where you go so you’ve just got to put it all into perspective.”

He later added: “The reality is we probably won’t go as high as that, but it’s going to be higher than what it’s been in the past.”

The council’s chief executive Ian Bancroft also pointed to the “balancing act” faced by councillors and acknowledged the potential impact on residents’ finances.

He was also keen to stress that officers do not set council tax levels, but provide guidance instead for councillors to base their decision on.

He said: “The work that’s been done by officers is to produce service and business statements which give a level of potential cuts towards £22.6m gap

“The types of cuts we’re looking at mount up to about £9.6m – you’ve got £5m in terms of schools, £4m in relation to corporate services.

“The advice is that if you take all of those, you’ve still got a gap that would require 12.5 per cent.

“I think you have to be very careful not to say that we’re proposing as officers that you set a 12.5 per cent council tax.

“This is a really difficult situation and normally you’d have options but all of those are really challenging.

“It’s about balancing the impact on statutory services like school and social care with the potential £9.6m.

“You then balance that with the pressures that we know are placed on residents and people in terms of the difficult financial situation they find themselves in.”

We then asked council political leadership about the cumulative impact of increases in bills faced by residents.

These include rising community council precepts, the policing precept, gas and electricity bills increasing and mortgages and rents going up.

Cllr Pritchard said: “We do take that into account when we have these discussions and I think if you look at the council tax that has been set in Wrexham over the years, it’s always been sensible, and I think it’s fair.

“All we’re asking for as local authorities here is to be funded correctly by Westminster and Cardiff.

“Council tax isn’t the answer, but it does help because for every one per cent we put council tax up by, we bring in £600,000.”

The final budget and council tax level for 2024/25 looks likely to be going to the executive board at a special meeting later this month, before being ratified by the full council at the end of the month.