Somerset County Hall £10m repair bill branded 'obscene'

The county council is struggling to balance its budget

A £10m bill for repairs to a cash-strapped council's headquarters has been branded "obscene".

Part of Somerset County Council's County Hall in Taunton is currently closed for repairs and adaptations.

So far £7.8m has been spent and a further £2.5m is needed to complete the project, despite the authority announcing service cuts and job losses.

The council said upgrading County Hall would reduce the need to lease office space and save £723,000 a year.

'Crunch point'

The extra money needed was outlined in a scrutiny committee meeting on Tuesday, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Head of property, commercial and business services, Claire Lovett told councillors the authority had "reached a crunch point" where it had to make repairs.

Liberal Democrat Neil Bloomfield said: "What never ceases to amaze me is that whenever council leaders give bad news of cuts, they're always standing in front of grand buildings.

"I find it obscene that the option to move out was discarded when we don't know the value of our own asset."

Conservative John Thorne said it was difficult to justify this work in light of cuts to key services which were agreed in September.

He said: "At a time when people on the Blackdown Hills are going to be isolated because the roads won't be gritted, it seems we can afford to spend £10m on our own home."

Ms Lovett said the council had considered selling off County Hall and relocating to an out-of-town location, but this was rejected due to the "negative economic impact on the town centre" and the cost of creating a new base.

Councillor Mandy Chilcott, who sits on the cabinet, spoke in favour of the changes as a cost-saving measure.