NEWPORT residents could face a council tax increase of 9.5 per cent in April under draft budget plans by the city council.

Bin collections could also be cut to every three weeks instead of every fortnight, while fees for various services could be increased, library opening hours cut, and budgets for social care and various other areas slashed.

Leader Cllr Jane Mudd has said she recognised bills are already increasing across the board, but putting together plans which allow the authority to continue to run services had been “an extremely difficult process”.

She added: “The sums simply don’t add up.”

Last month Cllr Mudd warned the council had "very few choices" after revealing it faced a huge budget gap.

The council has said the proposed council tax increase will see bills for most households in the city increase by between £1.55 and £2.07 per week.

Cllr Mudd added: “With a funding gap of £27.6 million pounds, the council must consider raising council tax to create more income.

“This is done with the full appreciation that this a major bill for households at an already challenging time.

“We have had one of the lowest rates of council tax in Wales for a very long time and even if we do raise it at a level higher than we would wish, we are very likely to still compare favourably to our neighbouring areas.”

Other plans include moving to collecting household rubbish every three weeks instead of every two, cutting budgets across the board, reducing library opening hours, increasing fees for various services, introducing parking charges at a number of parks.

The draft budget will be presented to the council’s Labour-run cabinet next week, before a public consultation on the plans is launched.

The consultation will run until February 2, 2023, before final proposals are presented to the council the following week.

Cllr Mudd said: Councillor Mudd said: “Reflecting on the amount of money available and how that can realistically be prioritised to deliver our most important services has been an extremely difficult process – the sums simply don’t add up.

“The cost of providing services is going up in the same way that everyone’s cost of living has risen. And at the same time, more people are accessing those services, increasing demand.

“Several additional factors including the failure to provide Wales with a fair funding settlement and the ending of energy support by the UK Government has only made the situation worse.

“And this comes not long after many years of austerity when we faced real-term budget cuts. Newport City Council has already implemented over £90m of savings since 2011 so there are few choices left.

“Added to that, two thirds of the council’s budget is spent on schools, education and social care – the absolutely essential services, where savings are very difficult to make.

“But I want to reassure everyone that the challenges being faced by residents, businesses and individuals will always be at the forefront of the council’s considerations.”