The public may feel “misled” about an additional two per cent in council tax being earmarked to protect education, an opposition county councillor has said.

When setting their budget for 2019/20, Ceredigion councillors had “reluctantly” agreed to increase council tax by seven per cent as opposed to the original recommendation of five per cent, with the additional two per cent being allocated to schools to cover the cost of pay rises and increased pension payments for teachers.

However, council leader Ellen ap Gwynn admitted that following that decision it was announced that central government was providing additional funding to cover those payments, meaning the additional money raised through the extra two per cent council tax increase will now go to the social services budget.

The social services department is suggesting it may overspend by around £2.5m, as part of an overall council-wide estimated overspend of £1m at the end of the financial year.

Cllr ap Gwynn said additional money will now be found for the social services budget, but she insisted that would be a one-off amount.

Liberal Democrat leader Ceredig Davies said that while he understood that providing more funding for the under-pressure social services budget was a “good cause”, he said that many taxpayers may feel misled.

He said: “I could say you’d misled the people out there as that two per cent was supposed to go to education.

“I know it’s a good cause, but it was said it would go to education.

“The cynical side of me would say that when we decided the budget in April that there was no mention of how adult services would find a saving.

“The cynical side would say it was likely the funding for pay and pensions for teachers would come and then this money would be there for social services and adult services.”

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