Council tax is set to increase by almost four per cent for next year, county councillors have said. ?The 3.95 per cent hike is expected to be pushed through by Monmouthshire County Council after a draft budget meeting last week.

Peter Fox, leader of Monmouthshire County Council, said, “Our perspective on council tax has remained at cabinet at 3.95 per cent. I noted in the round of potential council tax increases across Wales that it is about average with some nearer to five per cent and some nearer to two per cent.

“Recognising the pressures and level of funding we have per capita which is considerably less than elsewhere in Wales we recommend to council that our figure of 3.95 remains.”

Further proposals will be discussed at a meeting of the full council on March 9.

Councillor Dimitri Batrouni said that the public consultation and engagement process the council implemented between December 16, 2016 and January 31, 2017, was ‘unsuccessful’.

Two public sessions were held in County Hall in Usk and social media sessions on Facebook and Twitter were also held to try and get people to share their ideas on the draft budget.

However, Councillor Batrouni said this seemed to have failed due to low participation.

He said: “I know the council has made big strides to increase engagement and the vocabulary used over recent years is to increase the participation and use the public views but again we’ve failed. Are we banging our head against a brick wall here?”

The full council meeting will be held at Usk’s County Hall on March 9.