Letter to the Editor:

The news that Ceredigion County Council is raising council tax by 7.3 per cent will be unwelcome to all residents. As cost-of-living pressures have spiralled, the last thing most of us need is another tax rise. And yet, we will all quietly go along with it because, in the end, we believe in the value of good public services. The problem is that this simply isn’t what we are getting in Ceredigion. When Plaid Cymru took outright control of the council last May, I don’t remember any mention of missed bin collections, empty council offices, and tax rises. Is the so-called Party of Wales just not up to the job?

Most of us recognise that rising costs includes council employees and suppliers. But we should be able to expect, at least, a minimum level of service. It’s true that Ceredigion has some unique circumstances. The number of students in Aberystwyth, for example, massively skews almost everything in the north of the county, as the recent census showed. However, the university has been there since 1874. Didn’t the council notice? Was there no long-term planning for increasing student numbers? In an ideal world, I’d like a levy on universities to make up for this. But that isn’t up for discussion now and students aren’t, despite what some say, the cause of all of our ills.

We also know that services cost more to deliver in rural areas. Again, Ceredigion hasn’t suddenly become rural. Have our councillors, or indeed Ben Lake and Elin Jones, made any effort to raise this in Cardiff and Westminster? They’re all in positions to extensively lobby for extra funding at every level and earn the eternal gratitude of many a local authority for cracking the problem. I’m sure a national campaign for a fairer funding deal would be well received. We’d all be behind it. Instead, and at risk of sounding like a broken record, our councillors are nowhere to be seen.

The simple fact is, politicians should aim to lighten the burden on our hard-stretched wallets (and purses!), whilst ensuring that every penny of taxes is spent on delivering efficient, high quality, wide-reaching services.

As a Conservative, I am keenly aware that Westminster hasn’t blazed a trail in this regard. But, I believe that you pay for what you get and we should be enabling the state to do those things that it does best. That is, delivering services that the market doesn’t and providing a safety net for those in need. All without costing the earth. You can keep your small state, because the fundamentally conservative thing is a strong and effective, but limited state. Unfortunately, Ceredigion County Council isn’t delivering that. They say we “deserve more” than we are getting. They’re right, we do. When can we expect to see it?

Ewan Lawry

Deputy Chairman (Politician),

Ceredigion Conservative Association

Aberystwyth