Could poor Powys settlement mean higher council tax?

By Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter

Powys County Council are set to receive a below the Wales average funding settlement for next year from the Welsh Government.

Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government, Jane Bryant, issued a written statement providing details of the provisional Local Government Settlement in Wales for 2025/2026.

The average rise throughout Wales is set to be 4.3% but Powys is set to received 3.2% which equates to £7.770 million more, but puts them towards the bottom of the Welsh funding league table, 21 out of 22 local authorities.

This means that the Welsh Government grant to the council will rise to £250.184 million, up from £242.414 million.

This year the council has a total budget of just over £341 million which means that it receives around £100 million from Council Tax, grants, and income from fees.

It is expected that the Liberal Democrat/Labour cabinet will publish its own budget proposals for 2025/2026 in January, and following a period of intense scrutiny all councillors will vote upon it in late February or early March.

Ms Bryant MS said: “In 2025-26, local authorities will receive £6.1 billion from the Welsh Government Revenue Support Grant and non-domestic rates to spend on delivering key services.

“This means the core revenue funding for local government in 2025-26 will increase by 4.3% on a like-for-like basis compared to the current year.

“The additional funding provided through the autumn budget is welcome as we emerge from the prolonged period of austerity imposed by previous UK Governments, as well as a range of economic crises such as spiralling inflation.

“Our overall settlement for 2025-26 is more than £1 billion higher than it would have been under the previous UK Government.

“However, 14 years of constrained public funding cannot be turned around in just one budget and it will take time for the public finances to recover.

“As we have developed the draft Budget 2025-26, which was published yesterday, we have again prioritised protecting core frontline public services as far as possible, supporting the hardest hit households and prioritising jobs.

“In line with our focus on supporting households, this also continues to protect vulnerable and low-income households from any reduction in support through the Council Tax Reduction Scheme.”

Powys has been joined by other rural councils such as Gwynedd (3.2%) and Monmouthshire (2.8%) at the bottom of the funding pile while the councils for urban areas such as Cardiff (5.3%) and Newport (5.6%) have benefited the most out of the increased funding from the government.

Powys council have been asked for a comment.