NEXT Wednesday will be make-your-mind-up time on Swindon council tax by the decision-makers.

By then, Swindon Council's cabinet will have the result of the public consultation that has been asking the people to opt for a percentage rise of 5, 7.5 or 10.

The crunch meeting is expected to be highly-charged as members have to come clean over cuts and closures that are intended to enable budget targets to be achieved.

Representatives of care homes and voluntary organisations which are on the potential hitlist will be in the public gallery.

Some may ask for the right to plead their case to the meeting.

Two of the council's six residential care homes are certain to be closed and the doomed pair will be named.

At least three public libraries will be axed and the fate of the whole library service will also be announced.

Whatever the cabinet decides will still have to be ratified by the full council on February 12.

The Conservative budget could be defeated on February 12 if Labour and Liberal Democrat members do a deal and propose an alternative budget.

Following Labour's double victory in last week's by-elections in Central and Western wards, the council is once again hung.

Any pact between Labour and the Liberal Democrats leaves the Tories one down in the numbers game.

"On Wednesday we shall have to go into detail over where we are making savings," said council leader Mike Bawden (Old Town and Lawns).

"We shall also be recommending what council tax should be levied for the next financial year in the wake of the outcome of the public consultation."

Organisations promoting the arts in Swindon are particularly fearing losing out when the council makes its decision on grants to the town's voluntary sector.

"If we lose the £33,000 annual funding from the council our whole future will be in jeopardy," said Victoria Wicks, senior administrator of Sixth Sense, an organisation whose work is directly linked to the national curriculum and young people's development.

"Sixth Sense now attracts £7 of inward investment for every £1 granted by the council. We deliver over 150 professional performances and 500 workshops each year to 30,000 young people, educating about issues such as domestic violence, bullying, teenage pregnancy, drug and alcohol misuse and teenage prostitution.

"We also receive financial help from the Arts Council of the South West, but the amount we receive from them depends on the level of funding from Swindon Council."

Another arts group under threat is the Partners Theatre Company, which has been running for 10 years and is the premier scheme of Reach Inclusive Arts. "Not only is the theatre company at risk, but our whole operation relies on support from Swindon Council," said Mark Smyth, arts development officer with Reach.

Actors from the group starred in the blockbuster movie Truly Madly Deeply and the TV series A Touch of Frost.

Reach, based in the Pinehurst People's Centre, has been running in Swindon and Wiltshire since 1983 and currently receives £9,000 a year from the council.

Michael Litchfield