Final budget for Somerset County Council approved

The county council voted on Wednesday (February 23) to pass the final budget before it and the four district councils are formally replaced by the new unitary Somerset Council in April 2023.

The budget contains a significant boost for both children’s services and adult social care, with council leader David Fothergill calling it “the most positive budget in my time as leader.”

Opposition councillors, meanwhile, have attacked the ruling Conservatives for a perceived lack of investment in rural areas over the last decade.

Mr Fothergill introduced the budget at the full council meeting held at the Canalside conference venue in Bridgwater on Wednesday morning (February 23) – the same day the structural change orders regarding the new unitary council were discussed by a House of Commons committee.

He said: “This is a very positive, very sustainable and very opportune budget for the new unitary to take over from. It’s clear to me that we are delivering for the people of Somerset.

“While other councils are dipping in their reserves to fund everyday spending, this council is delivering a balanced budget and we are increasing our reserves.”

Over the next 12 months, the council will spend an additional £18m on adult social care up to April 2023 – a rise of 13 per cent on the previous year.

While some of this additional funding will go towards meeting additional demand for services (as Somerset’s population continues to age), around £8m has been allocated purely for “provider inflation”, allowing for a carers’ pay rise and a retention bonus for new staff who come to work in Somerset.

Children’s services (which have been under significant scrutiny from Ofsted in recent years) will see its budgets rise by around £12m – another 13 per cent increase.

More than £1m of this will go towards rising costs of transporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to and from school – despite new specialist schools having been recently delivered in Taunton and Bridgwater.

In addition, the council intends to allocate £48m of capital spending towards new infrastructure projects – including £24m for improvements to the Somerset road network and a further £1m for de-carbonising schools.

To fund these investments, council tax will rise by just under three per cent, of which one per cent is ring-fenced for adult social care – meaning the average (Band D) property will pay an extra 78p per week.

The Liberal Democrat opposition group did not put forward a formal alternative to the planned budget, arguing such discussions would be better left for the first budget of the new unitary authority.

Councillor Liz Leyshon, shadow cabinet member for resources, said: “I will no doubt be asked why we don’t have an alternative budget or even an amendment. That would not be appropriate. There will be plenty of time to work on the new council’s budget, by the new councillors.”

Other opposition councillors were more openly critical of the budget proposals, claiming the council had neglected to properly invest in rural communities since taking power in 2009.

Councillor Dean Ruddle (Lib Dem, Somerton) said: “The town council, which I chair, supports Somerton Library to the tune of £15,000 to keep it open.

“We also have a £100,000 highways budget, doing things the county council should be doing. The county council is still wasting millions of pounds.”

Councillor Adam Dance (Lib Dem, South Petherton) added: “The people of Somerset have been let down. We in South Petherton now manage £70,000 of services because you haven’t managed your budgets.

“You put no investment in the rural communities, and you dare to sit here today and say you are investing. My residents have been let down, and I hope there’s a change in May.”

Councillor John Hunt (independent, Bishop’s Hull and Taunton West) asked whether the planned savings from becoming a unitary council could be passed on directly to local residents).

He said: “My residents are very excited about the savings of £18.5M a year under unitary – they think they’ll get a refund on their council tax bills. If it was shared out to our residents, it would be £92 per household per year.

“That would be very useful indeed, and I would like to suggest that money goes there rather than anywhere else.”

Councillor Mandy Chilcott, cabinet member for resources, responded: “A lot of what you’ve discussed today is for the new council to decide.

“For me, every penny that we save on the way we operate is a penny more we can spend on providing services to our residents.

“Due to the £150 rebate announced by Rishi Sunak MP, many of our households across Somerset will end up paying less.”

The budget was approved by a margin of 27 votes to 13. A number of councillors left the chamber during the budget discussion, meaning they were unable to vote on the proposals.