4. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on council tax levels in North Wales? OAQ52356

Can I thank Mandy Jones for that question? The setting of council tax is the responsibility of democratically-elected local authorities. They are answerable to their local populations for the decisions they make. We have again continued to protect local government in Wales from the worst effects of austerity in the settlement for 2018-19.

Thank you for that answer. I welcome the fact that eight local authorities have given an exemption to care leavers in their areas from paying council tax until they reach the age of 25, including one from my region, Anglesey. This gives care leavers the opportunity to better transition to independent living without the fear of a disproportionate response by councils if they are unable to make their council tax payments. Would the Welsh Government work with the remaining councils in north Wales and the rest of Wales to ensure that all care leavers have access to this exemption to avoid a postcode lottery?

Can I thank Mandy Jones for that supplementary question? Because I completely agree with what she has said. I am glad to see the number of local authorities in Wales rising that provide a blanket exemption to care leavers from paying the council tax. I know that Carl Sargeant, when he was responsible for this area, wrote to all local authorities, encouraging them to join that list. It's a message that the current local government Secretary and I continue to give to local authority colleagues, and those who have tell you that the costs to them are very modest indeed, because, sadly, so many care leavers qualify for help with council tax in other ways from schemes that we already have in being. But to have a solid scheme universally available, where care leavers could be guaranteed to be provided with that help—that's the position we'd like to get to as a Welsh Government, and we will continue, as she has suggested, to work with colleagues in local authorities to get all 22 into that position.

Cabinet Secretary, your colleague the Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services, in his Green Paper on local government, states that, over time, there has been convergence in council tax levels and

'in the majority of places the differences today are small and this should not be an insurmountable issue.'

However, the figures tell a different story, with council tax payers in north Wales potentially—if these ludicrous proposals go ahead—facing an increase of £160 per annum in Ynys Môn, and over £80 each in Conway and Wrexham. Given the fact that, in Wales, we've seen a 201 per cent increase in council tax bills since devolution, and notwithstanding the many concerns that we have raised—and others—regarding the financial integrity of the Cabinet Secretary's Green Paper on local government reform, have you been invited to any discussions with the Cabinet Secretary as regards moving forward with local government reform, and, in particular, what agreements are in place to mitigate any further exorbitant council tax increases?

Of course, Llywydd, as finance Minister I take a close interest, and will continue to, in the outcome of the consultation on the Green Paper that the Cabinet Secretary has conducted, and the issue to which the Member points—differential rates of council tax between authorities—has undoubtedly been a theme in that consultation. Of course, the biggest differential lies not between Welsh authorities but between authorities in Wales and authorities in England, where English council tax payers on average have to pay £179 extra every year.

Given the cuts to Denbighshire County Council’s budget last year, Denbighshire will have to increase its council tax by 20 per cent, it seems, just to catch up with where they are at the moment. Now, whilst we know that budgets are shrinking, costs are increasing, and many of us will welcome the fact that a number of staff in the council are going to receive a pay rise, particularly those on the lower bands. But the questions I’d like to ask you is: for how long do you, as Cabinet Secretary with responsibility for finance, believe that it will be sustainable for councils to continue to deliver not only non-statutory services, but statutory services too in such an unsustainable financial context?

Well, Llywydd, we are in a period where we are all under pressure from the Westminster cuts, and I acknowledge the fact that people in the local authorities are coping with an exceptionally difficult situation. As a Government, we have worked hard to attempt to give local authorities funding. There was no cut in cash terms in this financial year, and I will continue, with the Cabinet Secretary responsible for local government, to work hard together to prepare the budget for the next financial year.