Your council

Merthyr Tydfil: what’s happening where you live

What the council itself has published on the five things it most shapes for a household: homes, getting about, the bill, the local environment and schools. Each line is quoted from the council’s own document, with the link. This page says what was decided or proposed; it never says whether it was right.

This page is built from official registers only; the council’s own publications have not been read yet, and every line below says so where that leaves a gap.

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council: Welsh unitary authority (unitary), Wales. GOV.UK lists it as a unitary council. ONS code W06000024.

Council website

Do it online

The council’s own service pages as listed by GOV.UK’s Local Links Manager (Open Government Licence), refreshed weekly; the same list of everyday services, in the same order, for every council, in GOV.UK’s wording.

Housing

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Transport

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Council tax

Average Band D council tax in Merthyr Tydfil for 2026–27: £2,593.60 a year. Of that, £2,186.33 is set by the council, £405.14 by the police and, on average, £2.13 by community councils.

Every band

Merthyr Tydfil: council tax by band, 2026 to 2027, including police and average community council
Band	A year
A-	£1,440.89
A	£1,729.07
B	£2,017.24
C	£2,305.42
D	£2,593.60
E	£3,169.96
F	£3,746.31
G	£4,322.67
H	£5,187.20
I	£6,051.73

Including the police and the average community council charge; band A− is for homes in band A that qualify for disabled band reduction. Source: Welsh Government, Council tax levels by billing authority and band (Open Government Licence).

Source: Welsh Government, Composition of average band D council tax by billing authority (Open Government Licence). Your own bill depends on your band, your community council and any discounts or reductions.

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Environment

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Education

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

What the council plans to spend, 2026–27

The budget for each service, as Merthyr Tydfil reported it to the Welsh Government. The same headings, in the same order, for every council in Wales.

Merthyr Tydfil: budget by service, 2026 to 2027
Service	Budget
Education	£87.0 million
Social services	£62.5 million
Council fund housing	£18.8 million
Local environmental services	£13.6 million
Roads and transport	£5.4 million
Libraries, culture, heritage, sport and recreation	£6.4 million
Planning, economic and community development	£4.4 million
Local tax collection	£709,000
Debt financing costs	£11.9 million
Law, order and protective services	none budgeted
Central administration	£4.6 million
Other revenue expenditure	£620,000
Revenue expenditure	£215.9 million

Revenue expenditure: the cost of running each service in the year, as the Welsh Government collects it.A minus figure means the service’s income is budgeted to be more than its spending. “None budgeted” usually means another body runs that service here. Source: Welsh Government, Budgeted revenue expenditure by authority and service (Open Government Licence).

Life in Merthyr Tydfil: the official facts

Facts about the people who live here: their pay, homes, health and more, from official statistics. They describe the place, not you, and every council gets the same list. Each shows when it was measured.

Show the figures for:

Showing: Merthyr Tydfil.

People living here: 58,362 people 30 June 2025 · Office for National StatisticsAn official estimate of everyone who lives in the area, in the middle of the year.
Typical age: 41 years 30 June 2025 · Office for National StatisticsHalf the people who live here are younger than this and half are older.
Money to live on, per person, per year: £20,222 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage household income per person after taxes, with benefits added: what people have to spend or save.
Typical weekly pay, before tax: £605 30 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsFor employees who live here: half earn more than this each week, half earn less.
Children growing up in poverty: 28.4% April 2024 to March 2025 · Department for Work and PensionsThe share of children under 16 in families on low incomes once housing costs are paid.
People claiming unemployment-related benefits: 3.2% 2025 · Office for National StatisticsThe share of people aged 16 to 64 claiming Jobseeker's Allowance or Universal Credit while looking for work.
Average price of a home: £148,656 August 2026 · HM Land RegistryThe average price of a home here in the month shown.
How many years of pay a home costs: 4.0 times yearly pay 1 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsA typical home's price divided by the typical yearly pay of people who live here.
Years in good health: women: 50.1 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsHow many years a girl born here can expect to live in good health, at current rates.
Years in good health: men: 51.7 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsHow many years a boy born here can expect to live in good health, at current rates.
Greenhouse gases, per person: 4.0 tonnes per person 2024 · Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroEmissions from the area in a year, shared out per resident, in tonnes of carbon dioxide or its equivalent.
Homes and businesses that can get the fastest broadband: 79.1% 1 January 2026 · OfcomThe share of addresses that can get gigabit broadband (1,000 Mbps).
Public chargers for electric cars: 139.0 per 100,000 people 1 July 2026 · Department for Transport, sourced from ZapmapPublic charging points at all speeds, for every 100,000 people.
Businesses trading here: 1,360 businesses 2024 · Office for National StatisticsBusinesses with sales or staff in the year.

More figures for Merthyr Tydfil from the ONS

Gathered by the Office for National Statistics in Explore Local Statistics (Open Government Licence), refreshed daily. Some figures aren’t published for every nation, so the list can be shorter outside England.

Who runs the council

30 seats in 2026. Run by: independents, as a minority administration. Open Council Data (public domain).

Councillors by party: Independent / Other 15, Labour Party 14, Reform UK 1.

Next scheduled council election: 6 May 2027.

All 30 councillors, by ward

Gillian Preston (Labour Party) — Bedlinog and Trelewis
Michelle Symonds (Independent / Other) — Bedlinog and Trelewis
Claire Jones (Independent / Other) — Cyfarthfa
Geraint Thomas (Independent / Other) — Cyfarthfa
Michelle Jones (Independent / Other) — Cyfarthfa
David Hughes (Reform UK) — Dowlais and Pant
Declan Sammon (Independent / Other) — Dowlais and Pant
Paula Layton (Independent / Other) — Dowlais and Pant
Bill Smith (Labour Party) — Gurnos
Jeremy Davies (Independent / Other) — Gurnos
Lee Davies (Independent / Other) — Gurnos
Darren Roberts (Labour Party) — Merthyr Vale
Scott Thomas (Labour Party) — Merthyr Vale
Clive Jones (Labour Party) — Park
Louise Minett-Vokes (Labour Party) — Park
David Isaac (Labour Party) — Penydarren
Jamie Scriven (Independent / Other) — Penydarren
Kevin Gibbs (Independent / Other) — Penydarren
Anna Williams-Price (Labour Party) — Plymouth
Brent Carter (Labour Party) — Plymouth
Gareth Lewis (Labour Party) — Plymouth
Andrew Barry (Independent / Other) — Town
David Jones (Labour Party) — Town
John Thomas (Independent / Other) — Town
Julia Jenkins (Independent / Other) — Town
Ernie Galsworthy (Labour Party) — Treharris
Gareth Richards (Labour Party) — Treharris
Ian Thomas (Labour Party) — Treharris
Clive Tovey (Independent / Other) — Vaynor
Lisa Mytton (Independent / Other) — Vaynor

Each councillor’s register of interests is on the council’s own website; we have not yet located the page. Councillors from Open Council Data as recorded after the May 2026 elections; a by-election since then may have changed one seat. Attendance and allowances are not shown.

This council’s meeting papers are not yet read automatically, so decisions and motions are not listed here; they are on the council’s website.

Write to your councillors → WriteToThem (mySociety) finds them from your postcode; nothing is sent through this site.

Cite this page

Harvard style. Every figure on the page also names its original source, which is usually the better thing to cite.

Every council page has the same five headings in the same order. Sources are the council’s own publications and official statistics. Council list: mySociety, UK Local Authorities (CC BY 4.0) and WhatDoTheyKnow authorities (CC BY-SA 4.0); council websites, tiers and service links: GOV.UK (Open Government Licence); codes: ONS Code History Database (Open Government Licence). Corrections: hello@whatsittome.org.