Ceredigion County Council website

Like all Local Authorities across Wales, Ceredigion County Council continues to face significant financial pressures, where maintaining properly funded Council services is proving extremely challenging. For the coming financial year, the Council is facing financial cost pressures of some £11.8m (equivalent to an inflation rate of 6.1%), but has only received a funding increase from WG of 3.8% (worth £5.3m).

Ceredigion County Council’s Budget for 2025-2026 has been set at £209.2m. This results in a Council Tax increase for County Council Services of 8.7%, with a further 0.6% Council Tax increase required to fully fund the Fire levy set by Mid and West Wales Fire Authority, meaning an overall increase for County Council purposes of 9.3%. 

In setting the Council’s Budget, Councillors agreed to an investment of £481k in the Waste Collection Service and a £346k investment in the Planning Enforcement Service, which combined equates to an increase of 1.5% to the Council Tax. The impact of the Chancellors’ increases in Employers National Insurance has also had a significant financial impact equivalent to a 2.9% increase in Council Tax, with a large part of this (just under £1m) being required to support the Social Care sector.

Our budget has been broken down to the following:
•    75% of the Council’s budget will be spent on Schools & Lifelong Learning (30%), Through Age & Wellbeing Services which includes Social Care (35%) and Highways & Environmental Services (10%).
•    A further 10% of the Council’s budget is needed for costs that are largely fixed - the Mid & West Wales Fire Authority Levy, Members Allowances, Capital Financing Costs and awarding relief under the Council Tax Reduction Scheme.
•    This leaves 14% to cover the cost of running all other Council Services

Councillor Bryan Davies, Leader of Ceredigion County Council said: “This has yet again been a difficult budget setting process where the funding received from government falls a long way short of recognising the increased demand and cost of running Council services, particularly for an authority delivering essential services across a wide rural area. For the second year in a row Ceredigion has received the lowest funding increase per head of population in Wales.”

"Significant Budget savings were made in 2024/25 and this year we recognise that the residents of Ceredigion do not want to see more Services being lost or cut and we are therefore seeking to protect and invest in the key services that the public value. When setting a budget, there are key considerations including ensuring the most vulnerable people in society within Ceredigion are protected and continuing to provide essential and quality services to our residents - however there is a cost to achieving both of these aspects.”

“We know that the increase in Council Tax will affect many households in Ceredigion. Support may be available under the Council’s Council Tax Reduction Scheme. This is a means tested scheme but we’d encourage residents to check their eligibility using our Entitlement Calculator.”

“We are continuously assessed by external regulators such as CIW, Estyn and Audit Wales as well as benchmarking our Services against other Local Authorities. The recent independent review of the Council’s performance concluded that ‘There is strong evidence that the Council discharges its functions effectively’ and that ‘considering the current high service demands and very challenging financial pressures, Ceredigion County Council is a well-run local authority’. I’m proud of the Services that we continue to offer for the residents of Ceredigion and our Staff who work tirelessly and diligently to deliver those Services.”

More information on Council Tax Reduction Scheme can be found here: Housing Benefit and Council Tax - Ceredigion County Council and the Entitlement Calculator can be found here: Benefits - Ceredigion County Council