ON Thursday morning I opened a letter received from Pembrokeshire County Council, unexpected and unknowingly, to be advised of the prospect of a possible increase in my council rent of almost £20 per week to be implemented in April 2015.

The letter was couched in what appears to me to be very apologetic and even sympathetic terms, PCC being unaware of the final outcome of the ongoing negotiations with the Welsh Government - who, apparently, are the instigators of this project.

Efforts are to be made by the council to spread the increase over a period of time with gradual increments until the intended amount is reached. How long it will take before this occurs is unknown; council tenants are to be given more written information in January.

The four page letter, which goes on to detail other changes in various service charges, provides a table showing a breakdown in future rents for the range of PCC public housing available in Pembrokeshire, and 8,000 people are to be advised of this and of the final outcome. As a life-long Labour Party supporter and old-fashioned Socialist (I am 72 years of age), this news has shocked me to the core.

Where has this suddenly come from? Why if after four-and-a-half years of belt tightening and benefit reductions, the Bedroom Tax and the effects of the UK Coalition Government’s austerity programme cutbacks, is there intent by the Labour controlled Welsh Government to create a massively unfair and cruel demand on public housing renters’ purses and wallets?

Checking into the whys and wherefores of this on the internet I have discovered that information regarding this project is in the public domain, though not to be easily found: negotiations have apparently been underway between the Welsh government and the UK Treasury regarding this issue since 2010.

The responsibility for issues of public concern, opinion - and fury - are being left to the Welsh county councils to deal with it seems. There has been no prior concerted effort made by either the Westminster Parliament or the Welsh Government to harmonise rents in the public and private renting sectors, though the Conservative- led Coalition implied the possibility of this occurring earlier during this UK Parliament. This objective, therefore, would appear to be the unlikely cause for the sudden decision to increase weekly rents by such a considerable amount.

I could find no other logical explanation and, of course, the PCC has always been proud of its low percentage annual increases in rent and council tax.

By example, should the suggested rent increases be adopted in full, the rent on my three bedroom council property would incur an increase of £1,029.60 per annum.

JOHN JONES

Hakin