A PROPOSED 5.95 per cent council tax rise has been defended as vital to supporting public services.

If the increase is agreed it would see a Band D home facing an annual bill of £1,926.45 from April before police and community council charges are added. The increase works out at an extra £2.08 a week, or £108.19 a year, for Band D homes in Monmouthshire.

The figure is included in the draft budget the county council’s ruling Labour and Green Party cabinet has put out for consultation. The budget protects frontline council services such as libraries, council hubs and leisure centres as well as maintaining the frequency of waste collections and invests in gulley and street cleaning, road and footpath repairs as well as extra funding for schools and social services.

Councillor Ben Callard, the Labour cabinet member responsible for finance, said he was “proud” to present the budget and said: “For the first time in many years this council has not proposed any cuts to frontline services.”

Frances Taylor, leader of the council’s Independent Group, asked about the cumulative impact of council tax increases since 2022 that add up to more than 20 per cent.

Cllr Callard acknowledged increases had been “significant” but said they were in the context of inflation, impacting council services, “between 16 and 20 per cent depending how you measure that”.

He said the proposed 5.95 per cent increase will provide the council with just over £5 million.

“The alternative is to look for services to cut. I say residents benefit more from better public services,” said Cllr Callard.

Conservative opposition leader, Cllr Richard John, asked about the impact of increasing council tax bills on the “most vulnerable families”.

Cllr Callard replied: “Investment in public services supports the most vulnerable, children with additional learning needs and people requiring social care and for those on lower incomes there are support systems in place to help with council tax.”

While the budget hasn’t proposed cuts to frontline services it intends to save more than £1m from changes to children’s care, including by providing more local places for children from Monmouthshire, and consolidating under staffing in adult domiciliary care.

But that has left the council consulting on a budget which is still £970,000 short of being in balance.

Cllr John criticised the decision to consult on an incomplete budget but Cllr Callard said it is possible definitive information on grants could also close that gap.

The full council had been due to debate a motion, tabled by Cllr John, on the budget at its January 22 meeting but the session was suspended, after a councillor fell ill, before the item could be discussed.

The council is consulting on the draft budget until Friday, February 18, with public drop in sessions to be held at libraries in Abergavenny, Monmouth, Chepstow, Usk and Caldicot between February 5 and 12.

The full council will be asked to approve the final budget and council tax at its meeting on Thursday, March 5.