Last week, Monmouthshire’s Labour/Green coalition published its spending plans for the next year, with a shocking council tax rise of 5.95 per cent, following two consecutive rises of 7.8 per cent in 2025 and 2024. It is outrageous that the council is asking residents to pay significantly more when it can’t reassure the public that its own financial house is in order.

The budget that has gone out to public consultation is incomplete. There is a £973,000 hole in the revenue budget, with no identified solution. The papers openly admit reliance on potential additional Welsh Government funding and acknowledge ‘current uncertainties’ that could materially change the council’s position. This is not a balanced budget. It is a draft built on shifting sands, presented as if it were deliverable when it clearly is not. The cabinet are not being straight with the public. This £1million gap will need to be bridged by additional income or reduced expenditure, either extra money from government, a further rise in council tax or cuts to services.

Last week, the Cabinet Member claimed confidence that the £1 million gap could be covered, provided there were no unforeseen disasters. But disasters are, by definition, unforeseen, sudden and often devastating. It is reckless not to prepare for the worst and keep reserves for, perhaps literally, a rainy day. This is residents’ money, not the administration’s to gamble with.

Instead of setting out a credible plan to close the gap, Cabinet is relying on short‑term fixes, including using £2.7 million of capital receipts (sales of assets) to fund day‑to‑day spending. Selling assets to pay the bills is not sound financial management; it is the clearest possible sign of an administration that has run out of options.

Against that backdrop, residents are being asked to accept a 5.95 per cent council tax rise, following two consecutive increases of 7.8 per cent. This is an inflation‑busting rise at a time when households are already under intense pressure. It is also significantly higher than increases proposed by neighbouring councils. Council tax in Monmouthshire will have risen by over 30 per cent in just four years.

Instead of driving efficiency, innovation and value for money, the default response from Labour councillors is always the same – to reach deeper into residents’ pockets.

A council tax rise of this scale might be defensible if it were underpinned by a credible, balanced and resilient budget. This one is not. And asking residents to pay more on the basis of hope, uncertainty and one‑off fixes is simply unreasonable.