PLAID Cymru council leaders say local authorities have been placed in an “impossible position” by British and Welsh Labour budgets, and will be forced both to cut services and raise council tax.

The Welsh government announced its funding allocation for local government on Thursday, stating that “core revenue funding … in 2025-26 will increase by 4.5 per cent on a like-for-like basis compared to 2024-25. No authority will receive less than a 3.8 per cent increase.”

But the Plaid leaders of Carmarthenshire, Gwynedd, Ynys Mon and Ceredigion councils said: ““We cautioned ministers that the increase for councils announced for next year clearly falls short of meeting the pressure on council budgets.”

Darren Price, Nia Jeffreys, Gary Pritchard and Bryan Davies added: “The increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions announced by the UK government last year is also a huge cause of concern.” 

They said if Labour’s “partnership in power” with Westminster means anything, then [British Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s] Spring Statement at the end of March should include more money for Wales.