Elections denied, Anglesey hit by LARGEST Council Tax rise in entire United Kingdom

Today Anglesey's Commissioners and the Shadow Executive agreed to raise next year's Council tax by 4.5 percent. This means that while we are denied an election, the third POOREST county in the United Kingdom will be hit with the LARGEST council tax rise not just in Wales, but in the entire United Kingdom.

Council Tax rises from April this year

In fact a rise of 5 percent was supported by Labour and Plaid Cymru — it is only thanks to pressure from the Independents that it was eventually reduced down to a still massive 4.5 percent. In the council press release, Commissioner Byron Davies justified the rise by arguing it is necessary to safeguard the Island's three swimming pools and also spare public toilets from the axe.

However thats not the explanation for the this extraordinary rise. These are the real reasons:

• The Commissioners have failed to deliver on £1.2 million worth of savings they were mandated to make this year. As a consequence of this, £600,000 has had to be covered by dipping into the council's bank account, £281,000 was judged to have been unachievable anyway, and the remaining £368,000 now needs to be found in addition to the further savings required next year. As £250,000 is roughly equivalent to one percentage point on Anglesey's council tax, this failure to deliver by the Commissioners has added an extra one and half percentage points to next year's bills.
• The Commissioners, under direction from Cardiff, have further decided to spend an additional £1 million on 'strengthening' the 'Corporate Centre'. £300,000 of this will go on improving Children's services — something nobody will quibble with — however the remaining £600,000 (worth two and half percentage points on your council tax bill) will mostly be spent on hiring more HQ staff.
• Despite the above additional costs being placed on Anglesey by Cardiff, Ynys Môn council this year received the second worse funding settlement from the Welsh Government — a cut of -1.2% compared to an average increase to other Welsh councils of 0.58%.
• The Welsh Government has long complained that Ynys Môn has kept its Council Tax too low. In my view this has always been justified by the fact that Ynys Môn has long been officially the poorest place in the country. However, by sanctioning the largest council tax rise in the United Kingdom, the Commissioners have clearly shown that they are here not to do their best by the residents of Ynys Môn, but to best serve the interests of the Welsh Government in Cardiff.

Furthermore, despite being more than partially responsible for the need for such a large rise, both the unaccountable Commissioners and Carl Sargeant, the Welsh Minister for Local Government, have strong-armed Councillors into acquiescing to the largest Council Tax rise in the UK by stressing that it would be an "acid test" of their political maturity (a lack of debate apparently shows maturity). The carrot of a partial return of powers (and special allowances) was also dangled before the shadow executive.

This budget will now go to a vote before the Full Council on March 6th. Despite opposition from Labour and Plaid who supported the original 5 percent rise, the Independents have done well to get it cut down to 4.5 percent — however they have shied away from provoking any further confrontation with the Commissioners and Cardiff. However, with completely new local boundaries being forced onto Anglesey next year specifically to get rid of Independent councillors, I wonder why they feel they have anything more to lose? They cannot be penalised any further by Cardiff — it would be better for their electoral chances next year if they returned to their traditional low tax roots and made a stand on behalf of Anglesey residents by voting against this rise on March 6th. These rises are not purely to safeguard services and facilities, therefore it surely cannot be right to impose the single largest council tax increase in the entire United Kingdom on its third poorest area.

++ Council Tax rise will be 3.7% ++

I understand that at a meeting of the Executive this afternoon it was agreed that pending approval from the Full Council, the Council Tax rise for 2011/12 will be set at 3.7% -- well below the original estimate of 4.3% floated during the recent Howl i Holi meetings. In order to achieve this reduced rate, all Councillors will be asked to accept a 10% cut in Basic and Special Responsibility allowances.

It remains to be seen what the rises are likely to be for other North Wales councils, but personally I think this sounds like a good settlement considering that council tax rose by 4.5% last year without the need then to find any savings at all. When you consider that this rise is below inflation (currently around 4%), and that there will also be no cuts to Anglesey's libraries and leisure centres this year, it shows just how well the Council does actually function despite the political problems. If the full Council does approve this rise (and I hope it does) it further proves to the Welsh Assembly Government that Anglesey Council is by no means a failing council and certainly does not need to be forcibly amalgamated into a Greater Gwynedd.

UPDATE: Its worth highlighting the below comment from Jeff Jones, former Leader of Bridgend Council:

"The average increase for Wales looks as if it will be in the region of 2.8%. If Ynys Mon sticks to 4.3 % it will probably be the highest increase in Wales this year. If they go for 3.7% then the highest could be Newport at 3.9% with Bridgend at the moment second on 3.77%. Although the real issue is often not the percentage increase but the actual amount paid at Band D. Caerphilli,for example, might be freezing its council tax this year but its band D will be still £897 compared to Newport's £802. Historically the lowest council tax in Wales has always been Pembrokeshire which has a band D of about £707. The lowest Band D in England and Wales is Conservative controlled Wandsworth at £687. In England all council tax increases above 3.5 % would be capped this year. Most English authorities have also taken advantage of the UK government's one one off payment which allows them to freeze council tax for a year. Council tax has also been frozen again in Scotland but the Assembly decided not to go down this route."

UPDATE 2: Neighbouring Gwynedd County Council will see their council tax rise by 3.9%. Another reason to oppose a forced amalgamation between Ynys Môn and Gwynedd.

Carl Sargeant: conspicuously not coming to Ynys Môn

Despite the WAG Local Government Minister Carl Sargeant visiting Gwynedd tomorrow he will be conspicuously NOT crossing the straits. Not to worry, I hear that a number of Anglesey councillors will be crossing the bridge to see him instead. One of them apparently will have a list of 22 names in his pocket -- all of whom are willing to take over from the currently daily diminishing minority alliance and form a new administration. Will this make any difference -- or has the Minister already made up his mind to send in the Commissioners? The fact that he attempted and failed today to include last minute amendments to the Local Government Measure currently going through the Assembly which would allow him to order the merger of councils by diktat suggests that his mind is already made.

My personal view is that any merger with Gwynedd (and now I am hearing that Conwy may also be in the mix too) would be disastrous financially for Ynys Môn for the following reasons:

• Gwynedd Council currently has to find savings over the next few years of approx. £28.8 million, compared to 'just' £10 million at Ynys Môn (Conwy must find £21.9 million). A fully merged council would see these cuts shared between both councils. We have already seen something similar with the amalgamation of Local Health Boards across North Wales to create the Betsi Cadwalladr University Health Board. This led to the red ink at Glanclwyd and Maelor hospitals being shared throughout the region thus causing cuts at previously fiscally well managed Ysbyty Gwynedd. 
• Average Council Tax is much higher in Gwynedd than Ynys Môn and a harmonisation of rates would undoubtedly result in a large rise in Anglesey (Average Band D council rates in Ynys Môn are £825.30 compared to £960.79 in Gwynedd -- a difference of £135).
• Anglesey County Council has the second largest estate of small holdings in Wales. These are valuable assets which a cash strapped Gwynedd would seek to disperse in order to reduce their own financial problems.
• Gwynedd Council has 75 councillors compared to just 40 in Ynys Môn. This imbalance would ensure that the merged council would operate in the best interests of Gwynedd not Ynys Môn.
• Gwynedd Council is dominated by Plaid Cymru (36 Plaid Cymru members out of 75 councillors) meaning a merger would lead to Plaid Cymru dominating both councils (in Ynys Ynys Môn there are currently only 8 Plaid Cymru members out of 40). As Plaid Cymru are completely opposed to nuclear energy a potential merger would not be a helpful development at this crucial stage in Horizon's decision making process regarding Wylfa B.

Hawl i Holi report

I attended the first of the latest set of Hawl i Holi meetings in Llangefni last night. Over 40 members of the public turned up -- a big improvement on the last such meeting I attended --  and a lively exchange ensued between the Executive, still led by Clive McGregor, and the assembled residents.

The meeting began with a presentation of the financial problems facing the council as a result of the public sector cuts, best summarised by the below figures:

You can find full details of the proposed budget here on the council website.

The majority of questions related to two subjects: specifics regarding the actual local cuts themselves, and the ongoing political turmoil at the council. There was also a very forceful statement regarding the council having given only very short notice indeed in informing the public that these Hawl i Holi meetings will also represent a formal 'public consultation' into the proposed budget for 2011/12. The Photon has already written a very accurate and detailed pen portrait of the meeting so I won't repeat everything here.

I asked two questions:

1. How the job losses at Anglesey County Council will be managed, specifically will there be any forced redundancies? How will it affect consultants and agency staff? And whether the council is considering implementing a deal similar to that announced at Neath Port Talbot whereby the total number of job losses have been reduced due to workers earning over £21,000 p.a. accepting a one-off 2 percent pay cut and a three year freeze. 

Answer: Basically the council will be having discussions with the unions today and therefore cannot answer those questions in detail yet. Cllr Cliff Everett added that the situation in Neath Port Talbot was considerably different from Ynys Môn because of the large size of that council and solutions which work there may not be appropriate here.

2. I fully support Wylfa B, but we need to be aware that the new power station will generate approximately 3,300MW (roughly three times more than Wylfa A) and an additional 4,000MW will be coming in at peak time from the wind farms in the Irish sea. Therefore, how will all this power be transmitted off the island as the current supergrid has nowhere near that capacity? Scarring the island with hundreds of additional pylons will certainly not help our nascent tourism business. As we are hosting a power facility for the benefit of the entire country, the council needs to ensure that Anglesey is respected for its contribution and that strong representations are made to the National Grid to use either submarine or underground cabling.

Answer: The council is aware of the issue and discussions are going on with all the parties involved - "Watch this space".

The meeting ended with an appeal from the Leader, Clive McGregor, for more people to consider standing for election as county councillors in the 2012 local elections. Currently only 5 percent (i.e. 2 out of 40) of councillors in Ynys Môn are female compared to a Wales average of 22 percent. Furthermore the average age of county councillors on Anglesey is 63.5 years, fully five years older than the national Wales average of 57 years. If you fancy becoming a councillor, you are invited to get in touch with the elections department on 01248 752815 or email elections@anglesey.gov.uk. Clive even went so far as to suggest that a two term limit should be introduced for Councillors on Ynys Môn so as to ensure a regular intake of new blood -- something which is included in the People's Manifesto and a measure I would wholeheartedly endorse. Now that really would be a legacy for the Island, Clive!

Anglesey loses out in Council budget calculations

The Welsh Assembly Government yesterday announced the amount of funding it will award each local authority for 2011-2012. Anglesey County Council will see its budget reduced from £94.9 million this year to £93.3 million next year -- a reduction of £1.6 million and equivalent to -1.7 percent. The Welsh average is a reduction of just -1.4 percent meaning that Anglesey is among the 14 councils receiving the highest levels of cuts. You can see the settlements for all Welsh Local Authorities below (and more info here):

The amounts to be spent on Social Services and Education will be earmarked within each Local Authority's budget. As these two department's account for the lion's share of the total budget, by protecting them other departments will receive higher levels of cuts. It is unclear yet what implications this will have on next year's council tax -- which was already supposed to rising by up to 5 percent.

I am not surprised to see Ynys Môn once again receive one of the worst settlements from the Welsh Assembly. Last year, compared to an average Welsh rise of 2.1 percent, Anglesey County Council's allocation was increased by just 1 percent -- the joint lowest in Wales -- and we would have received even less had the Council not been able to negotiate a 'floor'. As the allocations are calculated mainly by population and not by need, Anglesey tends to lose out despite being officially the poorest place in the UK. Furthermore Anglesey is being hit by a double demographic whammy because we have a large and growing population of elderly people, who require far more care and resources, coupled with a net outward migration of younger people. In fact by 2031, the number of over 75s in Ynys Môn is expected to almost double whilst those between 25-59 years will decrease by 14 percent -- this will place a significant burden on Anglesey County Council's social services budget unless the Welsh Assembly addresses the way these grants are allocated.

Wales also needs a veto over large Council Tax rises

The Coalition Government has today announced plans to allow local voters in England to veto any Council Tax rise over an agreed ceiling set by Westminster. Personally I believe that this is a big step forward in both (a) incentivising Councils to deliver more cost-effective services and cut out wasteful practises by denying them of the 'easy option' of just nodding through large annual rises; and (b) making councils more accountable to the people they are supposed to serve. Apparently the Government will be asking the Welsh Assembly Government to also adopt this new measure - lets hope that WAG realises that the era of the 'nanny state knows best' is now over and also implements this proposal in Wales.

Click to Enlarge

Incidentally this year the Council Tax bill for Anglesey rose by a record 4.5% (one of the largest rises in the UK) - although the average Band D bill on the Island remains slightly below the Wales average at £1,054.92. The reason for the large rise was mostly because of the generally derisory local authority settlement increases from the Welsh Assembly Government for many councils in North Wales compared to those in South Wales. For example both Anglesey and Conwy councils received a rise of just 1% from the Welsh Assembly Government compared to rises of 3.1% for Newport and 2.9% for Cardiff City in South Wales. These WAG settlements are determined by some formula which takes into account the various demographics of each area, but there is obviously something wrong with this calculation when the poorest county in the UK, Anglesey, had to negotiate a floor of 1% or it would have received even less. Why isn't Ieuan Wyn Jones fighting harder for his 'home' seat in the Welsh Assembly? 

Is North Wales's support for the Welsh Assembly warranted?

  

In yesterday's post on the BBC 'devolution' poll, the Druid noted how North Wales residents are the most unequivocal in their support for the Welsh Assembly, with more North Wales residents in favour of the assembly and less believing it should be abolished than any other region of Wales. However, does the Assembly's treatment of North Wales warrant its high level of support in the region?

To answer this question lets take a look at the North Wales economy. During the period 2000-2007, whilst the UK economy grew by 44% and Welsh economy grew by 38%, the North Wales economy only grew by 34% - a staggering 10 percentage points less than the total UK growth. As a consequence of this - even before the damage brought by the recent recession - North Wales was home to three of the poorest counties in the UK: Anglesey, Conwy and Denbighshire. Can this low growth in North Wales be blamed on the Assembly? The answer is 'partially, yes'.

• One of the arguments for devolution was that an Assembly in Cardiff would bring governance closer to the people of Wales and allow it to formulate and implement economic development policies which are 'custom-made' to tackle the issues facing the different regions of the Welsh economy. We now know that despite the Welsh Assembly spending more per head on economic development than any other region in the UK, Wales as a whole has the the lowest GVA and highest unemployment in Britain. We also know that this picture is even worse in North Wales. The Assembly's economic development policies have evidently failed both nationally and in North Wales.
• Furthermore, in 2000 the Assembly was in receipt of £1.2 billion in additional EU Objective 1 funds for regenerating the 'deprived areas' of Anglesey, Gwynedd, Conwy and Denbighshire. These funds, if cleverly used, could have been used to leave a lasting legacy of flourishing private businesses in the area - yet, as we have seen, growth in North Wales between 2000-2007 has lagged far behind that of South Wales and the recent recession has seen thousands of job losses throughout North Wales. There appears to be NO lasting economic legacy in North Wales of the Assembly Government's use of these Objective 1 funds - Ron Davies may indeed be right when he asserts that the Public Sector 'stole' it.
• Despite the recession some of the largest Council Tax rises in the UK this year will be in North Wales, with Conwy Council rising 5%, Anglesey at 4.5%, Gwynedd at 3.9% and Flintshire at 3.3%. In most cases these large rises are due to 'derisory' settlements to North Wales councils from the Welsh Assembly which distributes money based not on need but on on the size of the populations in each council area. As a consequence of this, two of the poorest counties in the UK, Anglesey and Conwy, received a settlement rise of just 1% from the Welsh Assembly Government compared to rises of 3.1% for Newport and 2.9% for Cardiff City in South Wales. Once again the Assembly's policies are not helping the poorest region of Wales: the North.
• If we concentrate just on the Druid's home of Anglesey - officially the poorest county in the UK with a GVA per head of just 53% of the UK's average - we see that the Assembly Government has NOT prioritised the area as it should have. For example at the very same time that Anglesey Aluminium was closing with a loss of 450 jobs, the Welsh Assembly announced plans to inject over £100 million of European funding into the much more prosperous area of Swansea - with a much higher GVA per head figure than Anglesey (7% above the all-Wales level but 19% below the UK average). This entirely defies logic and shows that the Assembly's priorities are in the more highly-populated, Labour voting regions of South Wales.
• The Assembly also has competence for Agriculture in Wales, so lets look at agriculture in North Wales. Remarkably farming in North Wales has fared even worse than the economy. During the period 1997 (admittedly prior to the formation of the Assembly) to 2007, the economic contribution of agriculture to the North Wales economy fell by a staggering 67% compared to an overall UK decline of just 7%. Furthermore, the Assembly has been unable to prevent damaging EU legislation - such as the EU EID sheep tagging rules - which will disproportionately effect North Wales.

Despite the fact that the Druid personally believes that governance should be devolved as close to the electorate as possible - and therefore supports the Welsh Assembly on principle - it is, however, difficult to conclude other than to say North Wales has so far been taken for a ride by the Welsh Assembly. 

Also, where is Ieuan Wyn Jones in all this? Despite being the Deputy First Minister for Wales why is he not fighting more for North Wales and his constituency of Anglesey - as Andrew Davies and Edwina Hart are obviously doing for Swansea? Is he just not up to it? Or is it possible that he is devoting too much of his time to the politics of leading Plaid Cymru rather than looking out for the people who elected him? He better watch out or IWJ may find himself more vulnerable at the next Assembly elections in 2011 than he thinks...
   

Anglesey Council Tax set to rise 4.5%

The Anglesey County Council Executive have announced that they will propose a Council Tax rise of 4.5% to the Full Council on March 4th. This will be slightly less than the 5% previously predicted. The North Wales Police precept, part of the total Council Tax, has already been set at a rise of 3%.

Most councils will be finalising their council tax rises for 2010/2011 over the next month but with regards to North Wales, this is what we know so far:

• Anglesey County Council - 4.5% (proposed)
• Conwy Council - 4.7% (confirmed)
• Flintshire County Council - 3.3% (proposed)
• Gwynedd County Council - 3.9% (confirmed)

The reason for these quite large increases are rising inflation making the provision of services more expensive and the generally derisory settlement increases from the Welsh Assembly Government for many councils in North Wales compared to those in South Wales. For example both Anglesey and Conwy councils received a rise of just 1% from the Welsh Assembly Government compared to rises of 3.1% for Newport and 2.9% for Cardiff City in South Wales. These WAG settlements are determined by some formula which takes into account the various demographics of each area, but there is obviously something wrong with this calculation when the poorest county in the UK, Anglesey, had to negotiate a floor of 1% or it would have received even less. Why isn't Ieuan Wyn Jones fighting harder for his 'home' seat in the Welsh Assembly?

For comparison, the Local Government Gazette surveyed councils in England last November on expected rises to council tax in their areas. Below are the results:

The average rise was predicted to be just 1.6% with 34 of the 81 councils surveyed revealing they were actually planning to cut or freeze their rates! If only we could be so lucky here in Wales!

If you know by how much Council Tax will rise in your area, please do post in comments.

UPDATE: Now includes Gwynedd CC's rise.

Anglesey Council Tax to rise by 15% over 3 years.

Before long all Anglesey residents will be hearing the sound of a big fat envelope dropping through their letterbox. Unfortunately it will contain their 2010/2011 Council Tax bill and is likely to cause several residents to choke on their morning paned. It seems certain that Anglesey County Council will be asking us to pay up to 5% more than last year - the largest such increase in some time. What's more, the bills for 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 could also see a rise of 5% year-on-year too, adding up to a whopping 15% increase over 3 years. Whats going on?

If it seems like a very big jump in the middle of a recession, thats because it is. A survey conducted by the Local Government Chronicle last November found that the average Council Tax bill in England is only set to rise by just 1.6% this year. Even more suprisingly 34 of the 81 English councils which responded are actually planning to freeze or even cut their Council Tax bills. Would that we too could be so lucky.

Considering that Anglesey is officially the poorest County in the entire UK - poorer even than some parts of Poland - one would hope that the Welsh Assembly Government would be doing everything in its power to support the Island. You might hope that - but you would be sorely disappointed. In fact Anglesey County Council was awarded the the lowest settlement in all Wales by the WAG - an increase of just 1.0% and well below the Welsh average of 2.1%. As the actual amount awarded to each council is calculated by some vast Excel chart in Cardiff based on all kinds of demographic data, it seems we should count ourselves lucky that we got even that much as apparently Anglesey could have received even less cash if the Council had not managed to negotiate a 'floor' of 1%.

The size of the WAG settlement (consisting of the Revenue Support Grant and a contribution from the Business Rates Pool) matters as it makes up the lion's share of the Council's budget. The Council Tax we pay only actually covers some 13% of the total, with the rest made up by income and the WAG settlement.

Because of the paltry increase in cash from the WAG, Anglesey County Council now needs to find £2.1 million in cuts to balance its proposed net budget of £117 million for 2010/2011. It intends to do this through "a cut on advertising, an 'austerity drive' and energy savings. Schools will also face a 2% spending cut, saving the council £600,000. Savings of £500,000 will be made on the waste budget as the council reaps the reward of an increase in recycling and reduced landfill." The rest of the cuts will be announced later apparently. Despite all of this, Anglesey residents will still need to stump up 5% more in Council Tax as the WAG Local Government Minister, Brian Gibbons AM, has strictly forbidden councils to use the settlement to reduce the Council Tax burden.

So residents of an Island already devastated by the loss of Anglesey Aluminium, Octel, MEM / Eaton, Peboc and many other smaller companies - plus the imminent decommissioning of Wylfa - will now need to pay 15% more in Council Tax over the next three years. Craziness.

The Druid is not an expert but he would have thought that it would make more sense to see how much money is available first and then decide what services can be delivered for that budget - rather than deciding in advance how much money they want to spend and then scrabbling around trying to find funds to pay for it all.

UPDATE: If you're upset by all of this (and you should be) you may want to attend one of the several public meetings that the Council Leader, Cllr Clive McGregor, has called over the next month:

20 January 2010	7 - 9pm	Ysgol Uwchradd, Bodedern
21 January 2010	7 - 9pm	Ysgol Syr Thomas Jones, Amlwch
25 January 2010	7 - 9pm	Holyhead High School
27 January 2010	7 - 9pm	Ysgol David Hughes, Menai Bridge
1 February 2010	7 - 9pm	Council Chamber, Llangefni
2 February 2010	7 - 9pm	Village Hall, Aberffraw
3 February 2010	7 - 9pm	Beaumaris Leisure Centre