A £12 million central library and a £2.6 million art gallery have been promised by Swindon Council's ruling Labour group.

But the cost is an inflation-busting 15 per cent council tax increase.

If the budget is agreed by the full council next Thursday it means council tax in Swindon will have gone up by 32 per cent in two years.

And it would increase the bill for a Band D household from £903.42 to £1038.93 per year.

Because the Labour group only has 28 of the 59 council seats, it still needs to find cross-party support to get its budget agreed.

According to Swindon Council director of resources, Ian Thompson, a council tax increase of 12.9 per cent is needed just to maintain current levels of services.  This has been caused by the overall cut in grant from the Labour Government, as Labour seek to further pile on stealth taxes onto the local tax payer.

This includes central Government's compulsory £4 million above-inflation funding increase for schools, the 3.5 per cent pay deal for council workers and money to cover overspends on the 2002/2003 budget.

The extra spending on top of that proposed at a meeting last night was:

£500,000 to cover a year of debt charges on borrowing £16 million to pay for the library and art gallery.

£100,000 for extra street cleaning.

£300,000 to extend kerbside recycling.

An additional £200,000 is set aside for "corporate services" which includes the chief executive's office and the business leadership of the council.

The art gallery would be located in the former railway museum on Faringdon Road.

Councillor Justin Tomlinson, "32% increase in two years, shows clearly how Labour has failed Swindon.  The Labour Council is nothing short of a disgrace.  Endless waste and mismanagement is commonly reported in the Evening Advertiser.  When Labour aren't wasting money on expensive laptops, they are wasting it on pointless City status bids."
"It is no wonder in the recent by-election in Stratton St. Margaret, Labour lost the seat to the Conservatives.  Residents want an end to Labour's endless waste and mismanagment."

Councillor Peter Stoddart, "Once again the Council Tax payers have been hit by Labours failure in Swindon.  Locally, we see daily evidence of how the Labour Council wastes our money, and nationally the Labour Government has hit Swindon extremely hard.  In 1997, 72% of Council spending was covered by Government funding, with the remainder made up from Council Tax and Council revenue.  (Fees from car-parks etc).  This year, the Labour Government cut the figure yet again, down to just 66%, which meant the Council needed a rise of 12.9% to just stand still.  Our two Labour MP's have done nothing to help.  They and the Labour Councillors have failed Swindon."