The leader of Swindon’s Labour group has taken his concerns over council tax increases for the coming year to Westminster.

Coun Jim Grant has written to the minister for local government to request that he look into the unusual approach being taken by Swindon Borough Council.

High on his list is the fact that while some residents will only see their council tax rise by 3.1 per cent, others in the town will pay 7.2 per cent more than last year.

The council has argued that the different percentage increases are inevitable in order to bring all taxpayers to the same base point and that there was a similar, if much smaller, discrepancy last year.

Local authorities are required to put council tax increases above 4.99 per cent to a public vote but it appears that this principle does not apply where the average increase across the town as a whole is at or below that figure.

The increase difference between areas arises because of the council’s controversial decision to introduce new parish councils where none previously existed in order to offload frontline services.

Households in previously un-parished areas used to pay an average of £47 a year to the borough for their services which raised around £1.7m for the council.

Not willing to lose out on that £1.7m, and despite no longer needing to provide the services it was used for, the council has added £25 to the bill of every home in the borough to cover their costs.

Writing to local government minister Marcus Jones MP, Coun Grant asked whether this approach was lawful and, if it was, whether it was within the spirit of the legislation.

He wrote: “Swindon Borough Council is planning to tax all residents in Swindon the cost of this, even though the services previously funded under this charge have been devolved to new parish councils and residents living in parished areas have never benefitted from the services paid for from the ‘special expenses’ charge.

“Some residents in Swindon believe that because the council is increasing the council tax by 7.2 per cent amongst many residents, this should trigger a local referendum.”

Coun Grant has called on the minister to consider whether the actions of the council are in line with the aims of the government’s Localism Act which established clear principles around ‘excessive’ local tax rises.

The council’s lead member for finance, Coun Russell Holland, has conceded that those households paying a larger increase may feel hard done by.

But, he argued, the quirks are merely a “function of the legislation” and that the council is “simply implementing what it is required to do”.

While the overall tax paid in different parts of the borough will be different depending on the additional tax demanded by the various parish councils.

The base amount that the borough is responsible for should be standardised across the board as of April this year.