Parties agree ahead of council tax vote

The First Minister says the Welsh Government has reached an agreement with Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats on new rules on council tax benefits schemes.

The regulations must be approved before January so that local councils can implement them. Assembly Members have been recalled during their Christmas break, and will be back in Cardiff Bay on 19 December to try to push them through.

Speaking after his monthly media conference, Carwyn Jones told me that talks with Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Liberal Democrats have resulted in 'a way forward' being found.

It seems that way forward involves setting a time limit to the regulations so that they must be reviewed, debated and if necessary replaced in a year's time which is what Plaid Cymru had demanded before last week's vote.

Carwyn Jones also emphatically denied vetoing a deal with the Conservatives which would have allowed the rules to be voted on last week. He said he didn't veto anything because there'd never been a deal in the first place.

What happens now is the regulations are being drafted in such a way that Plaid and the Lib Dems can support them. They'll be scrutinised by a committee of AMs next Monday and voted on when the Assembly is recalled next Wednesday.