Somerset Council declares financial emergency

Somerset Council was formed in April this year by merging five local authorities

Somerset Council has said it is in "a financial emergency".

Councillors on the Liberal Democrat-controlled authority voted to agree the declaration at a meeting in Yeovil on Tuesday.

They voted through "urgent" measures to try and reduce a predicted £100m gap in its budget for the next financial year.

The council said the costs of delivering services, particularly adult social care, are rising significantly faster than income.

It is trying to avoid the threat of effectively going bust, as has happened to other councils like Birmingham City Council.

'Direct and challenging'

Council leader Bill Revans said he will now be writing to Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to make him aware of the situation in Somerset.

Councillor Liz Leyshon, lead member for resources, said there were "direct and challenging recommendations" being made to councillors.

The councillors agreed the authority should form a financial focus group.

It will hold "challenge sessions" with the director of each council service in the coming weeks, to look at how to cut costs.

The council also agreed to bring in external consultants to look specifically for savings in adult and children's social services.

Liz Leyshon said the council did not want to worry staff by declaring the emergency

Other measures discussed included a recruitment freeze, selling off the council's commercial investment properties and pausing many building projects, like a refurbishment of the Octagon Theatre.

Further details are expected at the next executive meeting in December, including which services might be cut, which council buildings could be sold off and how much more local people can expect to pay in council tax from April.

Ms Leyshon also told the meeting the "situation is now too serious for us to avoid the word emergency".

She said if the authority filed a Section 114 notice, the council equivalent of bankruptcy, it would have to pay government commissioners "£1,200 a day each plus expenses".

"The last thing we want to do is be paying people from outside the county to make decisions for Somerset," she added.

'Missed opportunity'

The declaration comes seven months after Somerset Council was created by merging the county and four district councils.

The opposition Conservatives, who had promoted the change as a way to save money, said an opportunity has been missed.

"The new administration has squandered the strong financial legacy that was handed to them," said group leader David Fothergill.

"As a result, many Unitary savings which were forecast and achievable have sadly not been realised."