Council tax vote row

Ahead of next week's recall of the Assembly, First Minister Carwyn Jones explains to our Political Editor Adrian Masters why he believes controversial new regulations for council tax benefits will be voted through following an agreement with Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Liberal Democrats.

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. Carwyn Jones was speaking at his monthly news conference.

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.

Opposition leader Andrew RT Davies has welcomed the Presiding Officer's decision to recall the Assembly on 19th December. He said:

Assembly Members will have to return to Cardiff Bay from their Christmas breaks, it's been confirmed. It follows a failed attempt by the Welsh Government to push through new rules for council tax benefits schemes which must be approved before January so that local councils can implement them.

The Presiding Officer, Rosemary Butler, says her decision to recall the Assembly reflects the sense of urgency and the need to give the regulations full scrutiny. A committee of AMs will examine them next week and provide AMs with a report before they reconvene on the 19th December.

I understand the leaders of Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats have met the First Minister to try to reach an agreement which would allow the Assembly to be recalled from its Christmas break. It follows Labour's failure to push through rules for new council tax benefit schemes yesterday.

The most likely date for a recall seems to be in two weeks' time. Plaid sources say their agreement is subject to a 'sunset clause' which would mean limit the regulations to a year. It's what Plaid was calling for in the run up to last night's vote as its Local Government spokesman told me earlier:

The Welsh Conservatives have hit back at Labour's claim that no deal had been done to win their support for a vote which would have helped push through new council tax benefit rules. An opposition source says:

A bitter dispute has broken out between the Welsh Government and Welsh Conservatives in the wake of Labour's failed attempts to push through new council tax benefit rules. Opposition leader Andrew RT Davies says his group had reached an agreement which would have 'facilitated' a vote on the rules.

He said that he'd made the agreement with Local Government Minister Carl Sargeant on Tuesday night and denied that he was holding out for spending commitments. But the Welsh Government is categorically denying not only that there was any agreement, but that negotiations took place at all.

A source told me that 'they (the Conservatives) came with a set of demands and we showed them the door.' The source added: