Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:31 pm on 13 July 2021.
The Member's constituents in Neath Port Talbot will be pleased to know that living in that area, with a Labour authority, the rise in their council tax this year is 3.1 per cent; that's lower than in Anglesey, lower than Gwynedd, lower than Ceredigion, lower than Carmarthenshire, where the Member's own party is in charge. So, I think they will appreciate that a little more probably than the question suggested. The Member may be aware today that figures published also show that Neath Port Talbot, very unusually for any other local authority during this very difficult year, has actually exceeded its expectations in the collection of council tax, and that is good news for residents of Neath Port Talbot, because it means that the local authority will have more resources than it had anticipated in order to provide the services that residents of Neath Port Talbot require and rely on every day.
There are reasons why some local authorities have higher council tax rates than others, and they essentially rest in the make-up of those local populations. Those factors are well known to local authorities and are rehearsed every year in the independent group that we established in order to review plans for the council tax. And I'm sure that they are very well alerted to the points that the Member has made.