FOLLOWING the chancellor’s Autumn Statement yesterday it has been revealed council tax in Swindon could rise by more than £50 next year.

George Osborne has given local authorities the power to raise tax by two per cent as long as the money is spent on adult social care.

This is on top of the power councils already have to increase it by 1.9 per cent without having to have a referendum, meaning the total rise could be just under four per cent or £54 for Band D non-parish properties.

No decision has yet been made on whether to implement any increases next April but council leader David Renard (Con, Haydon Wick) says he would be surprised if there was no increase.

There has been no rise in council tax for five years but with increasing budget pressures and more cuts to grants it is looking likely there will be a change this year.

Coun Renard said: “The decision as to whether to implement any raise is one which is up to councils but it is another tool we have available.

“A decision will be made by the council when we decide budgets next year but as we have not raised it for five years I would not be surprised if a decision was made to raise it.

“We are still going through the detail of the budget but we will hold a six week consultation before making any decision.”

Adult social care is one of the biggest expenses faced by the council and while the extra funds will help, Coun Renard says there is still a long way to go solve the problems.

“While the social care precept is helpful in meeting the demands there are still a lot of challenges as we help more people who are living longer with a wider range of issues.

“The issue of the pressure the living wage is putting on care providers is also creating more challenges so there is still a long way to go.”

The move by the chancellor has also been seen as an admission that previous attempts to fund social care have failed.

Labour group leader Jim Grant (Lab, Rodbourne Cheney) said: “The Chancellor’s announcement on council tax appears to be a big climb-down, recognising that the Government’s previous council tax policy had failed to protect people who require social care.

“However this increase in council tax still will not come close to covering the increasing demand for social care services.

“What this announcement also does is undermine the need to create new parish councils as the Conservative administration had proposed in order to raise more council tax through new parish precepts.”