Pembrokeshire County Council’s Cabinet has today (Monday) agreed to recommend to full council that they approve a council tax rise of 12.5 per cent for 2018-19 - equating to an extra £2.12 a week for Band D properties.

The 60 members of council will meet on Thursday, March 8, to make the final decision on whether to approve the cabinet’s recommendation of 12.5 per cent, or alternative increases of 5.1 per cent or 8.1 per cent.

The meeting of council on March 8 will also consider the proposed 2018-19 budget, and the ongoing public consultation to consider the proposed five per cent, eight per cent or 12.5 per cent council tax increases. The consultation closes on February 16.

The financial pressures on the authority were detailed in a report to today’s cabinet meeting by the director of finance, Jon Haswell.

His report read: “Due to Pembrokeshire having the lowest Band D council tax in Wales since 1996, it was £15m worse off in 2017-18 than it would have been if its council tax was at the average level for Wales.

“Pembrokeshire has the largest shortfall between its actual spending and what Welsh Government predicts it needs to spend to deliver services, its Standard Spending Assessment (SSA).”

The report continued: “The Welsh average Band D council tax for 2017-18 was £1,162 - £279 more than Pembrokeshire at £883.”

Cabinet members heard that a 12.5 per cent increase for Band D properties (equating to a rise of £110.39) would still mean that Pembrokeshire would have the lowest council tax in Wales - even if all the other authorities had no rise in their council tax.

Clr. Bob Kilmister, cabinet member for finance, said: “I believe this authority not only has the lowest council tax in Wales, but also must be one of the leanest and most productive in Wales. We deliver services at £14.8m less than Welsh Government say we should.  

“That does not mean we are still as efficient as we could be, or that major transformation is not required. We need to do both but we also need to get this transformation right and not make knee jerk reactions that we will live to regret.

“A 12.5 per cent council tax rise or £2.11 per week for a Band D property will buy us sufficient time to make that transformation.

“The alternatives would be, in my opinion, hugely destructive and we would simply face the same issues again every year until we tackle the root cause.”

Cabinet members also approved the county council revenue budget for 2018-19 and rolling budget for 2017-18, and the capital programme for 2018-19 to 2020-21.