3. What discussions has the Minister had with local authorities regarding the impact of council tax rates on the cost-of-living crisis? OQ57737

The setting of council tax levels remains the responsibility of each local authority, taking account of all the sources of funding available and local priorities for service delivery. Authorities must strike a balance between maintaining services and the financial pressures on households.

Diolch, Weinidog. As we all know, families across the whole of Wales are facing one of the most serious cost-of-living crises in decades. Rising costs, increasing energy prices and stagnating wages are all resulting in thousands of households in my region struggling to pay for everyday items. And come April, of course, energy costs will be rising even further, tax hikes will be hitting households, and yesterday the Resolution Foundation forecast how the awful war in Ukraine will also deepen this crisis.

Neath Port Talbot county in my region currently has the third-highest council tax in Wales, and has had one of highest council taxes in Wales for over 25 years. Many of my constituents have told me how unfair they think this is. The budget settlement from Welsh Government to the council was better than usual this year, and it would have been possible to cut the council tax and also invest in council services. The Plaid Cymru and independent councillors on the council jointly proposed a cut of 2.75 per cent, which would have left the council with general reserves of almost £18.5 million, the highest in Wales, but this was rejected by the Labour-controlled council.

Council tax disproportionately impacts those on low incomes in our communities, so what conversations is the Minister having with council leaders to ensure they're doing everything possible to keep the level of council tax as low as possible this year? And will the Government consider Plaid Cymru's call to cancel council tax debt as part of our cost-of-living crisis action plan?

Thank you for the question, and I'll just repeat again, really, that authorities have to strike that balance between maintaining services and considering the pressure on households, without being drawn into commenting on any particular authority's decisions, because these are decisions for local authorities to take, and it's not really for Welsh Government to dictate what those might be. Of course, there is a power to cap an increase, but that's not a power that we've yet used, and from what I'm hearing about the kind of levels that authorities are thinking about, although there is a range, we're not at that point where we're high into double figures where we would be really talking about using that power to cap and so on. So, it is, I think, for local authorities to make these choices at this current time.

On that point about a bonfire of the debts, which I know is something that has been raised from a number of quarters—I've looked at this to see if it would even be possible. Local authorities don't have the legal power to cancel debts in that kind of way. They have a power to work with individuals and then to take decisions on that individual basis, but they don't have that kind of power just to be able to wipe out debts. So, that, legally, isn't an option. But they can work with individuals, and we did work with local authorities to provide a framework for them to do so to ensure that they are able to identify struggling households and then to work alongside them to explore whether they're claiming all the benefits that they are entitled to and so on, or whether the family or household needs some kind of other additional support. So, I'm not going to get drawn in on individual councils, but just to say that they do have abilities to provide individual support to households.

Minister, the UK Conservative Government has provided Wales with £175 million to help hard-working families in Wales with a financial lifeline to help ease the pressure of the cost of living. [Interruption.] 'Yay', exactly. I welcome the Welsh Government's decision to follow England and provide £150 cash rebate for homes in council tax bands A to D, and to create a discretionary fund to further help struggling households. So, Minister, will you join me with welcoming this additional funding from Westminster, and can you please update the Senedd on your discussions with local authorities as to how and when this council tax rebate will be delivered to households that are already feeling the pressure on their daily budgets? Thank you.

Well, Natasha Asghar will be very pleased to hear that we've more than met what the UK Government has provided to its council tax payers in England, and gone much further by being able to provide a package of support that is worth almost double what's available across the border in England. So, yes, authorities will—sorry, households will—receive the £150 payment in all households in bands A to D, but also, in Wales, if you're a recipient of the council tax reduction scheme, whatever band you're in, you will also receive that payment. In addition, of course, households in Wales have been able to access a £200 payment if they meet the eligibility criteria to help them with the high winter prices, or the high fuel prices, currently being experienced, and we'll also be able to do that scheme again from next October to be sure that we're providing families with some support towards the end of the year, when things are going to bite in terms of needing to use more fuel and so on.

In addition, we've provided local authorities with £25 million to provide discretionary support, recognising that not every household is going to be able to fall into one of these categories. So, we've gone above and beyond what was available in England. I don't want to get into the issue of whether or not it was additional funding, because I've written to the Finance Committee on that matter, setting out the timetable of events and information shared with us by Treasury, which did actually mean that we were worse off after the UK Government's announcement in respect of the £150 rebate across the border. But I'm happy to put a copy of that letter in the Library for everybody to have a look at in their own time.

Minister, tomorrow Rhondda Cynon Taf council will be voting on their budget for 2022-23. Thanks to your local government settlement, which empowers Welsh councils, under these proposals services will be protected, and additional funding will be allocated to schools, social services and to support a minimum rate of pay above the real living wage, all whilst limiting the council tax increase to 1 per cent, which I believe is one of the lowest in Wales. Do you agree that this is an excellent example of a Labour-run authority supporting its residents during the cost-of-living crisis whilst protecting the key services upon which they all rely?

Well, I'm slightly in a difficult position now, having committed not to comment on individual authorities' decisions, but the Member does make an excellent point.