COUNCIL tax is to rise by nearly five per cent in Monmouthshire after councillors approved final budget plans amid a heated debate.

The increase, which equates to an extra £65.12 a year on a band D property, will contribute towards £11 million of savinsgs which the authority needed to make.

Cuts of £8.5 million are also included in the budget.

At a full meeting on Thursday, council leader, Cllr Peter Fox, said the authority was putting forward the 4.95 per cent increase “with a heavy heart” – and renewed calls for the Welsh Government to change its funding formula for councils.

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He said the council had been made to ask residents for “more council tax than we ever dreamed of” due to a lack of government funding.

But the council’s Labour group leader, Cllr Dimitri Batrouni, attacked the plans as a “shambles budget.”

Cllr Batrouni criticised the authority of “poor planning”, saying the council was “scrambling to find savings in a week.”

Despite receiving the lowest amount of funding from the Welsh Government, Cllr Batrouni said the three per cent increase was still more than the authority had expected.

The debate turned heated over previous contentious plans to cut school budgets by two per cent, a proposal dropped by the authority after a public backlash.

Cllr Batrouni claimed the council was “always going to u-turn because they always had the money.”

“They panicked our schools unnecessarily, they panicked our teachers unnecessarily, playing politics even though they had the extra money,” he said.

But Cllr Richard John, cabinet member for children, young people and Mon Life, said the authority was “clear all along” that it did not want to cut school budgets and said he was pleased the proposal could be scrapped.

He defended the plans as a “budget that protects schools” and also highlighted investments in projects to increase physical activity such as leisure centre refurbishments.

The council was still left with a funding shortfall of £497,000 after going out to public consultation.

One proposal to close that gap was a freeze on “non-essential spend”, including a review of vacant posts to save £359,000.

Independent councillor Frances Taylor raised questions over what that spend involves.

Liberal Democrat Jo Watkins voiced relief over cuts to school budgets being reversed, while calling on UK and Welsh Governments for more money to fund children’s services.

The budget also includes investments to continue with plans to regenerate Caldicot and on work on a new 3-18 school in Abergavenny.

An additional £7 million is being invested to support children and £3 million to support vulnerable adults.