Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Housing and Local Government – in the Senedd at 2:49 pm on 3 February 2021.

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Photo of Delyth Jewell Delyth Jewell Plaid Cymru 2:49, 3 February 2021

Well, thank you, Minister. I'm sure that all councils, including Caerphilly, as you added, will be looking forward expectantly to the final settlement. 

Finally, I'd like to turn now to council tax. Plaid Cymru is calling on the Welsh Government, as I'm sure you know, to provide local authorities with more funding in order to stave off increases in council tax for this year, when many families and individuals are already struggling to make ends meet, and given the fact—and this is something that I know that you will have sympathy with—that council tax is a regressive tax and hits low income groups the hardest. Now, whilst council tax benefit does provide some needed relief to those who qualify for it, there is still a substantial number of people who do not qualify for it and are yet still facing this huge burden. It's not a secret that local authorities continue to face massive financial challenges. So, unless you are minded to provide the funds for a general council tax freeze, can you tell me what you plan to do to ensure that financial challenges faced by our councils are not simply passed on to some of the poorest people in society in the form of council tax increases?