DENBIGHSHIRE County Council is proposing a council tax increase that recognises “specific pressures in social care” and its support to schools.

The proposals follow the local authority’s cabinet meeting on Tuesday, where items such as delivering a balanced budget and a making final recommendation for the council tax levels for 2018-19 were on the agenda.

Members were asked to consider the implication of the local government budget settlement for 2018-19, which saw Denbighshire’s budget allocation from the Welsh Government continue to fall.

It is proposed that council tax will increase by 4.75 per cent, which will allow the council to invest an additional £1.5 million in the area of social care, supporting vulnerable residents.

For the average band D property, this would mean an increase of £56.58, which equates to £1.08 a week.

Cllr Julian Thompson-Hill, cabinet lead member for finance, said: “Over recent years, Denbighshire has planned for the budget cuts well in advance and this has helped us to carefully allocate our resources, maintaining key front-line services as much as possible.

“Whilst the actual reduction from Welsh Government is not as bad as first feared, we need to take into account a number of other factors, such as pressures in pay, pension and the national living wage, as well as price/energy inflation, one per cent in fire service levy and allowances for increases to the council tax reduction scheme. The financial climate continues to be challenging and staff across the council have found savings that will help us balance the books.

“We know that residents of Denbighshire demand that we protect the most vulnerable members of our society, while continuing to deliver the best possible services across the rest of the council.

“In order to address the increasing pressures in social care, we are therefore recommending that the average council tax will increase by 4.75 per cent, allowing the council to invest an additional £1.5m in this area to support our most vulnerable residents.

“We also know that all our residents are finding the current economic situation challenging, which is why we must keep any increase in council tax down to the minimum necessary.”

Denbighshire is not alone in considering how to fund an increased demand for funding education and, particularly, social care. The proposed budget includes an increase of £1.8m (2.7 per cent) in budgets for schools, and an additional allocation of £1.5m (3.2 per cent) to social care.

The budget proposal is due to be discussed on Tuesday during a full council meeting where the budget will be set and approved.