CONCERNS have been raised over how much the public will be told about the increase in council tax they will have to pay next year.

Next month, a leaflet will be sent to every household in the town explaining how much they owe.

But Labour councillors say they are worried that the Conservative administration will try to mask the full extent of the tax increase in some areas by using average figures.

Now the group's leader on the council is calling for a guarantee of full transparency.

The concern arises because in all their publicly released papers to this point, the council has used an average figure of 4.99 per cent to illustrate the increase they are set to impose.

However in reality, some parts of Swindon will pay 7.2 per cent more than last year while others will only pay 3.1 per cent.

To add to the complexities of the situation, the overall increase will vary still further depending on which parish residents live in.

Residents in Blunsdon for example will pay 11.3 per cent more next year while those in Wanborough will see just a 6.2 per cent increase.

Coun Jim Grant, leader of the Labour Group, said: "It is clear the scale of council-tax increases is unprecedented for Swindon and people will want to know why and how this scale of overall council-tax increase has come about.

"I was alarmed when the Cabinet tried to suggest that people were only paying a 4.99 per cent increase in their council-tax, when this is simply not the case.

"The variance will be huge depending on where you live so it is important people know what exactly the increase they will have to pay is.

"When using council resources, doing anything other than telling people what their actual council-tax increase will be, would be deliberately misleading.”

The Conservative administration has accused Labour of relying on press releases and headlines rather than offering viable alternatives in the run up to the budget meeting this week.

Russell Holland, the deputy leader of the council and the cabinet member for finance, said: "Every year each household receives a council tax bill which clearly sets out how much they are paying and the percentage increase.

"This has been common practice for several years. It is difficult to understand why the Labour group is apparently unaware of this.

"Last year Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors voted for an increase in council tax whereby some households paid a greater percentage increase than others.

"I really would like to have a genuine debate about the future of services but it is simply not possible because Labour have not brought forward any alternatives but instead keep on issuing badly-researched press releases."