Plaid Cymru has branded plans by Labour-run Caerphilly Council to put up council tax by 6.25% during a cost-of-living crisis as “deeply unfair”.
Councillor Charlotte Bishop, leader of the Plaid Cymru group, said: “I understand the financial pressures facing the council — but they are nothing compared to the pressures families and pensioners face every single day.
“A proposed 6.25% rise in council tax during a cost-of-living crisis feels deeply unfair, particularly when residents will see no real benefit in return.”
Commenting on the budget proposals, Councillor Charlotte Bishop said: “Labour says increased demand for temporary accommodation will require an extra £841,000, as it works to reduce its reliance on expensive B&Bs and hotel placements. Yet across the county, empty properties remain unused, with no large-scale refurbishment programme in place to bring them back into use.”
“At the same time, the council has decided to establish specialist resource bases in certain borough schools for pupils with additional learning needs. This is a welcome and necessary development, but it comes with predictable consequences. As a direct result, school transport costs are expected to rise further, with an additional £945,000 needed from April.
“I am not opposed to improved Additional Learning Needs (ALN) provision, nor do I under-estimate the pressures around temporary accommodation. However, it is difficult to understand how school budgets can be cut while these significant additional costs are being accepted elsewhere – particularly when long-term, cost-saving solutions are not being pursued.
“Refurbishing empty properties at scale would be a capital investment with lasting returns, reducing reliance on expensive temporary accommodation year after year. Instead, the council appears to be managing short-term pressures by absorbing rising transport costs and shifting the financial strain onto schools, which are already stretched.
“This is not about choosing between vulnerable families and education. It is about whether decisions are being made with long-term value, fairness, and children’s wellbeing at their core.”
Co-Deputy Group Leader Councillor Colin Mann added: “The proposed increase of 6.25% is well above inflation. It is more than twice as much as any increase in pensions or benefits and I haven’t heard of anyone who has had a wage rise of anything like 6.25%. Council tax remains as the one of the largest, if not the largest, bill that households face every month and huge numbers of people are struggling
“The withdrawal of the proposed cuts to school transport is welcome. Anyone who visits a school at the start or finish of the day knows the chaos and congestion that rules in many schools. Taking more children off free transport would have meant even more private car journeys and more difficult and often dangerous situations.
“The proposal to cut school funding by 1% is very worrying. Most school budgets are already either in the red or heading that way and staffing is already being reduced in many schools. They are already facing deficit balances of over £11m by 2027-28. This is just not sustainable.”
Fellow Co-Deputy Leader Councillor Gary Enright added: “Increasing council tax by that amount, when there are significant usable reserves to cushion the impact, even as a one off is morally repugnant. Once again the residents of this borough, that this administration is elected to serve are being financially impacted upon.
“I think we have reached the threshold whereby Council Tax charges are an unsustainable and significant cost to the family budget. As an example, it will mean for me a monthly charge in excess of £210 pa month, a totally yearly cost of over £2,000 a year!"
Caerphilly Senedd Member Lindsay Whittle said: “The council would be wise to forget the fancy major projects. They have proved with the new Caerphilly leisure centre, a solar farm and Ffos Caerffili that they cannot deliver big schemes successfully. Ffos Caerffili is proving to be a disaster, the solar farm is for sale and the new pool is not suitable for experienced swimmers.
“Basic services are being neglected. Last year they promised the borough would be cleaned and weeds addressed. Litter and dog bins are literally always left overflowing. The borough has literally gone to the dogs.
“Yet Labour wants more money from taxpayers.Same taxpayers who pass empty council offices every day while vacant council homes lay empty for nine months on average. People are sick of excuses.”