Arguments over the Oasis leisure centre dominated the debate over Swindon Borough Council’s budget for next year. But despite Liberal Democrat and Independent Tory support for a Labour proposal to guarantee £5m for the Oasis, and the ruling Conservative group having one councillor missing and one who initially voted the wrong way, the Conservative majority won and the administration’s budget was adopted. It will see a general fund of £153m for day-to-day spending over the next financial year, largely funded by council tax which will go up by 4.99 per cent. Nearly three per cent of the increase will be ringfenced to pay for adult social care.