COUNCIL tax payers in Swindon will be hit with a five per cent rise in April, it has been confirmed.

The combined pressures of a reduction in the amount of money the council receives from central government and an increased demand in adult social care has meant that residents will have to fork out an extra £62.44 for the average Band D property.

Rhetorical shots were fired across the council chamber on Thursday night as members clashed over the proposed budget for the 2018/19 financial year.

Russell Holland, the Conservative deputy leader of the council, centred his plans around helping the most vulnerable in society. He accepted that the vast majority of people who are not in receipt of social care services will be paying more and receiving less.

But, he said, there was no alternative if we are to prioritise the needs of the vulnerable.

“There can be no doubt that cuts to public services have been challenging, but as a nation we must learn to live within our means,” he said.

“Social care remains a challenging issue that needs to be addressed, but we will continue to prioritise helping the vulnerable and we make no apologies for that.”

The 4.99 per cent increase is comprised of 2.99 for basic costs and a further two per cent for adult social care.

The Labour Group tabled a number of amendments. These included using £1.5m over two years to open children’s centres, introducing the living wage foundation wage scale for council employees, taking measures to “protect and bring back into use Swindon town centre’s heritage buildings”, and borrowing £1m for additional investment into Lydiard Park. The amendments, however, were defeated.

Kevin Small, Labour’s financial spokesman, responded to Coun Holland’s proposal. He said: “This budget offers little solace to the needy of our borough. It is another chapter of the Tory legacy of destroying public services.”

The budget for 2018/19 is just over £140m, of which £82m is to be set aside for adult services.

The Revenue Support Grant, a vital stream of funding for local authorities that comes directly from central government, has been cut by almost £5m.

Members of the Conservative administration were keen to paint themselves as the doyens of “sound financial management,” as council leader David Renard put it.

Indeed, Coun Oliver Donachie drew attention to the Centre for Cities study, published in January, which showed that the town’s employment rate of 80.6 per cent was much higher than the national average of 74.2

In order to balance the books, the council needs to save £30m over the next 30 months. Staff cuts at the council are still likely to go ahead.