Swindon budget cuts include job losses and cuts to services

Swindon Borough Council may raise council tax next year as a result of the cuts

A first draft of huge budget cuts for Swindon have been approved by the town's ruling Labour councillors.

The borough council needs to save a recording-breaking £32m next year.

The savings - which the council has blamed on rising costs and underfunding from central government - will not get fully signed off until February.

Cuts are expected to library services, community transport, some street lighting and 80 full-time posts are also under threat.

Savings worth £18m have been found so far and it is also expected that local council tax bills will rise next year.

Swindon is not alone with some councils faring much worse, if a council goes bankrupt, it has to hand over spending control to external government administrators.

Labour leader Jim Robbins said they "not happy" about making the savings

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the leader of the council, Jim Robbins, said the cuts are "not something we're happy about".

"That's the reality of local government at the moment," he said.

"We don't get the sort of money from central government that we used to in the past.

"We're reliant on council tax to fund a lot of our services and we are seeing massive demand increases in adult and children services, something we have to spend our budget on."

Gary Sumner, leader of Swindon Borough Council Conservatives, said he is not convinced by Labour's budget

After 20 years of Conservatives running the council in Swindon, Labour has blamed a lot of the current situation on the past after taking over in May 2023.

Leader of the Conservatives in Swindon, Gary Sumner, said they had to find big cuts in the past too.

"We delivered a budget that was balanced in every single year," he said.

"At the last meeting in February, Labour voted for our budget and council tax increase."

He added that he is worried about the latest round of savings.

"I'm not convinced that Labour have the right priorities and I think they are managing things differently.

"The reality is that local authorities are having to become more agile" he said.

Additional reporting from Aled Thomas, LDRS reporter.

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