FROM April, Council Tax bills in Blaenau Gwent are set to go up by 3.75 per cent.

But this is below the 4.95 per cent that Blaenau Gwent Count Borough Council finance chiefs are modelling as a necessary annual increase.

This increase would equate to £0.97 a week more for those in Band A properties and £1.13 for Band B properties, which covers the majority of properties in the borough.

The increase for Band D properties – which is the recognised average for comparison with other council’s is £1.45 a week.

At a meeting of the county borough council’s Corporate Governance and Resources scrutiny committee on Monday, February 16, councillors will get their first chance to look at draft proposals for the 2026/2027 budget.

Next year the council will receive an extra £7.73 million from the Welsh Government – which takes its annual funding settlement for Blaenau Gwent up to £165.53 million from this year’s allocation of £157.8 million allocation.

The 4.9 per cent increase is the third best amongst the 22 local authorities in Wales.

The papers show that the draft budget estimate for next year is that Blaenau Gwent needs £213.78 million to run its services which include, schools, Social Services, rubbish collection and road maintenance.

This is up from the £198.65 million the council had this year.

But the council estimates that the Welsh Government funding and along with a predicted Council Tax collection next year of £44.32 million will only take up the council’s budget to £209.85 million.

This leaves the council needing to make £3.925 million in cuts and savings to balance the books.

The report said: “Closer working with Torfaen council has delivered financial savings through the joint leadership structure.

“As services restructure and redesign, it is anticipated that further efficiencies will be identified and achieved over future years through shared services and/or posts.”

Proposals to cut costs include finding £1.5 million of “transitional funding” from council reserves to: “support services whilst we look at how service delivery will change and the impact on demand.”

To deal with financial issues in the school sector the council will also be looking at a number of proposals that include reducing surplus spaces, shared leadership, resources, administrative function and reduce the number of buildings to lower maintenance and operational costs.”

It is not expected that there will be much opposition to the proposals as Council Leader, Cllr Steve Thomas (Labour) and the Opposition Leader Cllr Wayne Hodgins (Independent group) have issued a joint statement commending the draft budget.

Cllr Thomas said: “Working constructively with the Independent Group, we are recommending a fair and balanced draft budget that protects essential services while keeping Council Tax as low as possible in a very difficult financial climate.

“The Council Tax is likely to be one of the lowest increases in Wales....Our focus remains on protecting the services residents rely on most.’

The budget is expected to be approved at a council meeting next month.