Powys Independent councillors believe they can produce alternative budget proposals as the proposed 8.9 per cent council tax hike risks “pushing people into poverty.”

At a meeting of Powys County Council’s Liberal Democrat/Labour Cabinet on Tuesday, January 14, senior councillors received a report on the draft budget for 2025/2026, which includes an 8.9 per cent council tax hike.

Powys Independents group joint leader, Cllr Beverley Baynham, spoke at the meeting.

She welcomed the drop in proposed council tax from the 13.5 per cent suggested just before Christmas to the current 8.9 per cent, but believes that this is still too much.

Cllr Baynham said: “We as a group are still very uncomfortable with this level of increase.

“We do appreciate the need to set a balanced budget and that it is very difficult, but we owe it to the residents of Powys to scrutinise every line of this budget to keep any council tax increase to a minimum.”

She warned that an increase of 8.9 per cent runs “the risk of pushing people into poverty.”

Cllr Baynham said: “The council tax is the third highest in Wales and is already a huge burden for the average working family.

“We are intending to submit alternative proposals by January 29.

“It is not our intention to sit in opposition and just criticise.

“We will be working extremely hard over the next couple of weeks to come up with some alternative proposals for your consideration.

“I do hope you will view these alternatives in the way they are intended, and we can all work together, as all we want is the best for Powys and all its residents.”

Council leader, Liberal Democrat Cllr James Gibson-Watt said: “Thank you for your very constructive comments, we need to find as much consensus on this as we possibly can.”

Deputy council leader, Labour’s Cllr Matthew Dorrance also welcomed the move.

Cllr Dorrance said: “It’s a good thing, as the budget belongs to the whole council and not just the cabinet.”

Portfolio holder, Labour’s Cllr David Thomas, also welcomed Cllr Bayham’s comments but urged caution to guard against proposals that could bankrupt the council in the future.

Cllr Thomas said: “The projections going forward are very grim indeed and next year and the year after’s challenges could be harder than what we are currently facing.

“What I would ask is that when you do look at alternatives, that you don’t consider things that are going to make those challenges in the future more difficult,

“The last thing I want to see is a situation where we can’t fund our statutory services and that will lead us to a s114 position.”

This would effectively see the council being declared bankrupt.

The Welsh or UK Government would then appoint someone external to take over and run the council.

Cllr Thomas said: “We would lose all democracy and decision making and that would not do our residents any favours.”

Cabinet then voted unanimously to approve the draft budget.

The draft budget will now be subject to several weeks of scrutiny before the final version will go to a full council meeting on February 20 for a vote.

Time and potential meetings have also been factored into the process to allow alternative budget proposals to be brought to the table for scrutiny.