Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:54 pm on 2 February 2021.
First Minister, the Scottish Government is providing £90 million in extra funding to councils to enable them to freeze council tax next year, offsetting what would have been, on average, a 3 per cent increase. It would cost around £100 million to allow Welsh councils to freeze council tax next year and offset the average 4.8 per cent rise that we saw last year. At this time of great financial uncertainty, are you attracted by the argument of, and following Scotland's lead in, at the same time protecting vital, local services, but also protecting family budgets at such a difficult time? Would you be in a better position to do so if you were able to convince Westminster to allow greater flexibility in carrying unspent money forward to next year?