COUNCIL tax bills in Torfaen will go up in April after councillors approved a budget which includes no major cuts to services.

The 3.95 per cent increase means households will pay an extra £54.01 per year – or £1.04 per week – on band D properties in the borough.

Funding increases for schools and children’s services are also included in the budget, while an investment to create a new £53,000 canal officer post to take forward plans for the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal have been made.

An additional £52,000 has also been allocated to the council’s discretionary housing payment scheme.

MORE NEWS:

At a meeting on Thursday, council leader Cllr Anthony Hunt said the authority had sought to find a balance between keeping council tax rises low while protecting services.

“In an ideal world we would not increase council tax, but we have got a responsibility to keep services running otherwise some of the most vulnerable people in our communities would suffer,” he said.

“It’s not an easy choice. It’s not a choice that any councillor makes readily.”

The proposal was attacked by Independent councillor Jason O’Connell who said the council had not done enough to mitigate the rise.

“It’s lazy and I think it’s getting to the point where residents are sick of it,” he said.

However Cllr Hunt said the impact of not having the rise would be a £2-million hit on the budget, adding it is a “false choice” to say council tax could be frozen and services protected.

Conservative councillor Nick Jones claimed the council was being “underfunded by the Welsh Government”.

Cllr Jones said money was being made available from the UK government but that it “seems to get stuck in a logjam”.

Cllr Elizabeth Haynes said she could not support the proposed council tax rise “knowing that many residents are on the brink of financial disaster”.

But Independent Group councillor Ron Burnett said ‘vital’ services have to be protected.

“This can’t be done without money,” he said.

“The increase in council tax is unfortunately the way we raise the money to pay for all the services.”

Labour councillor David Daniels said the money would go towards “protecting some of the most vulnerable in our communities”.

He said alternatives to save money had not been put forward by opposition councillors who objected to the council tax increase.

Cllr Kelly Preston, executive member for resources, said it was “a good budget”, aiming to protect services which “look after the most vulnerable in our communities”.

She said that help is available for those struggling to pay council tax.