:00:00. > :00:12.four x 400 m relay team. That's
:00:13. > :00:17.Good evening. Wales is being hit hard by steeper council tax rises
:00:18. > :00:19.than other parts of the UK - that's according to the Welsh
:00:20. > :00:23.Conservatives. But the Welsh government insists the bills remain
:00:24. > :00:31.lower here than in England and have called on councils to be reasonable.
:00:32. > :00:37.But it or under pressure, and there are cuts all-round. Except for
:00:38. > :00:41.council tax. Council taxpayers will be ?42 per year more on average from
:00:42. > :00:45.April. That's because local authorities have set an average tax
:00:46. > :00:50.rise of 4.2 percentage the next financial year. Compare that with
:00:51. > :00:57.England with the average rise is 0.6%.
:00:58. > :01:01.By the end of February 231 councils in England have already signed up to
:01:02. > :01:06.the council tax freeze. The Scottish Government have announced its
:01:07. > :01:11.seventh year of council tax reasons, and Wales is being clobbered yet
:01:12. > :01:18.again. Even so, the Welsh government says we still pay less.
:01:19. > :01:27.In Wales, ban the 16% lower than England, so we do have a much lower
:01:28. > :01:32.level than in England. -- band D. And we're still only on a par just
:01:33. > :01:36.had freezes for several years. We have significantly lower council tax
:01:37. > :01:38.in Wales. Council leaders say they face
:01:39. > :01:43.difficult circumstances thanks to cuts in Westminster, the Welsh
:01:44. > :01:48.government decision to protect funding for the NHS. All councils
:01:49. > :01:53.will increase their tax rate by at least 3%. Four of them will rise by
:01:54. > :01:58.5%. That's the maximum Welsh government has previously allowed.
:01:59. > :02:03.I have said if any are reasonable I will use my capping powers.
:02:04. > :02:07.Lesley Griffiths also wants councils to be transparent when setting
:02:08. > :02:14.senior officers' a. The public is right to be interested in big
:02:15. > :02:21.salaries, she says. It seems every penny going in and out of county
:02:22. > :02:25.halls is strictly. -- is under scrutiny.
:02:26. > :02:29.And over the next few days BBC Wales will be looking at the impact of
:02:30. > :02:32.tighter budgets on council tax bills and services - we'll have more
:02:33. > :02:34.throughout the day starting in Breakfast at 6:30am.
:02:35. > :02:38.Plaid Cymru is unlikely to make cutting the top rate of tax one of
:02:39. > :02:41.its policies if Wales ever receives income tax varying powers -
:02:42. > :02:45.according to its leader. Former Plaid MP Adam Price called on the
:02:46. > :02:48.party to consider the idea as a way of creating jobs - but Leanne Wood
:02:49. > :02:51.says tax sharing powers aren't likely to be devolved for at least
:02:52. > :02:54.seven years. A Campaigner against plans to
:02:55. > :02:57.downgrade A services at the Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli to a
:02:58. > :03:00.nurse led unit has welcomed a judicial review into the proposals.
:03:01. > :03:03.Heart patient, Tony Flatley went to the High Court. Health board
:03:04. > :03:13.managers have insisted an overhaul of services is necessary.
:03:14. > :03:18.If I suffer another major heart failure they will take me in an
:03:19. > :03:29.ambulance for the difference distance, that is 75% increase, .
:03:30. > :03:32.Rugby and Wales' hopes of a third successive Six Nations title are
:03:33. > :03:35.over after defeat at Twickenham. England secured the Triple Crown
:03:36. > :03:40.with a 29 points to 18 win. All sides went into the match with a
:03:41. > :03:45.chance of winning the championship. In front of a rocking Twickenham,
:03:46. > :03:54.failure to deal with a quick tap saw England's first try. Leigh Halfpenny
:03:55. > :03:59.matched England's kicker kicked for kick, but Wales were eventually
:04:00. > :04:03.punished. Second best for much of the first half, Leigh Halfpenny's
:04:04. > :04:10.but meant that Wales went into the break only five points down. The
:04:11. > :04:13.second half was much the same as the first with educators exchanging
:04:14. > :04:18.kicks, but Wales could not but in four combinations together to
:04:19. > :04:25.threaten the England line. A record equalling appearance for Jenkins
:04:26. > :04:29.resulted in a trip to the sin bin. The video referee ruled out a third
:04:30. > :04:34.English try, but they had their revenge following a grand slam
:04:35. > :04:39.defeat three years ago. In terms of the penalties against
:04:40. > :04:44.us, but wasn't great from our point of view of what we hung on in the
:04:45. > :04:50.game, took a couple of opportunities in the second half and turned the
:04:51. > :04:53.game around. There will be no championship
:04:54. > :04:56.celebrations in Cardiff this year, pride but little else will be at
:04:57. > :04:59.stake against Scotland next weekend. And it was revealed after
:05:00. > :05:01.the match that Leigh Halfpenny's season is over after he suffered a
:05:02. > :05:07.dislocated shoulder. The weather now - here's Georgina
:05:08. > :05:10.Burnett. Good evening. A beautiful day for
:05:11. > :05:17.most of us today. The top temperature was 17 Celsius. We hold
:05:18. > :05:21.onto that high pressure for the rest of the week, so it should be largely
:05:22. > :05:27.dry. Will have some sunshine around at times, but some colder nights as
:05:28. > :05:34.well. Tonight will be cloudy rather than cold. Sunspot drizzle in the
:05:35. > :05:39.far north, that will be close to midnight and cleared by the
:05:40. > :05:43.morning. A great start to tomorrow morning, and a lot of low cloud
:05:44. > :05:47.around tomorrow. The best chance of brightness will be Pembrokeshire.
:05:48. > :05:56.You might get some spells elsewhere. Temperatures reaching 12
:05:57. > :05:59.or 13 Celsius. Averages reaching 11 or 12 this week, but perhaps some
:06:00. > :06:00.frosty nights. We're back later this evening at
:06:01. > :06:02.10:15pm.