09/03/2014 BBC Wales Today

four x 400 m relay team. That's

Good evening. Wales is being hit hard by steeper council tax rises

than other parts of the UK - that's according to the Welsh

Conservatives. But the Welsh government insists the bills remain

lower here than in England and have called on councils to be reasonable.

But it or under pressure, and there are cuts all-round. Except for

council tax. Council taxpayers will be ?42 per year more on average from

April. That's because local authorities have set an average tax

rise of 4.2 percentage the next financial year. Compare that with

England with the average rise is 0.6%.

By the end of February 231 councils in England have already signed up to

the council tax freeze. The Scottish Government have announced its

seventh year of council tax reasons, and Wales is being clobbered yet

again. Even so, the Welsh government says we still pay less.

In Wales, ban the 16% lower than England, so we do have a much lower

level than in England. -- band D. And we're still only on a par just

had freezes for several years. We have significantly lower council tax

in Wales. Council leaders say they face

difficult circumstances thanks to cuts in Westminster, the Welsh

government decision to protect funding for the NHS. All councils

will increase their tax rate by at least 3%. Four of them will rise by

5%. That's the maximum Welsh government has previously allowed.

I have said if any are reasonable I will use my capping powers.

Lesley Griffiths also wants councils to be transparent when setting

senior officers' a. The public is right to be interested in big

salaries, she says. It seems every penny going in and out of county

halls is strictly. -- is under scrutiny.

And over the next few days BBC Wales will be looking at the impact of

tighter budgets on council tax bills and services - we'll have more

throughout the day starting in Breakfast at 6:30am.

Plaid Cymru is unlikely to make cutting the top rate of tax one of

its policies if Wales ever receives income tax varying powers -

according to its leader. Former Plaid MP Adam Price called on the

party to consider the idea as a way of creating jobs - but Leanne Wood

says tax sharing powers aren't likely to be devolved for at least

seven years. A Campaigner against plans to

downgrade A services at the Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli to a

nurse led unit has welcomed a judicial review into the proposals.

Heart patient, Tony Flatley went to the High Court. Health board

managers have insisted an overhaul of services is necessary.

If I suffer another major heart failure they will take me in an

ambulance for the difference distance, that is 75% increase, .

Rugby and Wales' hopes of a third successive Six Nations title are

over after defeat at Twickenham. England secured the Triple Crown

with a 29 points to 18 win. All sides went into the match with a

chance of winning the championship. In front of a rocking Twickenham,

failure to deal with a quick tap saw England's first try. Leigh Halfpenny

matched England's kicker kicked for kick, but Wales were eventually

punished. Second best for much of the first half, Leigh Halfpenny's

but meant that Wales went into the break only five points down. The

second half was much the same as the first with educators exchanging

kicks, but Wales could not but in four combinations together to

threaten the England line. A record equalling appearance for Jenkins

resulted in a trip to the sin bin. The video referee ruled out a third

English try, but they had their revenge following a grand slam

defeat three years ago. In terms of the penalties against

us, but wasn't great from our point of view of what we hung on in the

game, took a couple of opportunities in the second half and turned the

game around. There will be no championship

celebrations in Cardiff this year, pride but little else will be at

stake against Scotland next weekend. And it was revealed after

the match that Leigh Halfpenny's season is over after he suffered a

dislocated shoulder. The weather now - here's Georgina

Burnett. Good evening. A beautiful day for

most of us today. The top temperature was 17 Celsius. We hold

onto that high pressure for the rest of the week, so it should be largely

dry. Will have some sunshine around at times, but some colder nights as

well. Tonight will be cloudy rather than cold. Sunspot drizzle in the

far north, that will be close to midnight and cleared by the

morning. A great start to tomorrow morning, and a lot of low cloud

around tomorrow. The best chance of brightness will be Pembrokeshire.

You might get some spells elsewhere. Temperatures reaching 12

or 13 Celsius. Averages reaching 11 or 12 this week, but perhaps some

frosty nights. We're back later this evening at

10:15pm.