CCTV and Yeovil Recreation Ground could be protected amid financial emergency
Somerset Council says it's looking to mitigate the impact of its £100 million budget gap
Somerset Council say CCTV services and the Yeovil Recreational Ground could still be protected amid the financial emergency.
They're planning to cut back on funding as much as they can that's not essential.
Leader Bill Revans says the local authority will be working with city, town and parish councils to find other ways of running the things they can no longer afford.
Today's news comes in the light of Yeovil's MP Marcus Fysh says Somerset Council has 'failed' in its mission to make efficiency savings - which was the aim when it became one unitary authority.
It's as the council faces a £100 million black hole in their finances, and are warning that major cuts to services could be on the horizon.
Today, a Government minister will be chatting with senior council leaders who hope to get permission to raise council tax next year by 10 per cent.
In the light of the unitary authority working with other organisations and councils to keep non-essential services running, local representatives yesterday also have a council tax hike at a full Taunton Town Council meeting.
This means, for those in Taunton, people who own a Band D property will pay £192 more a year.
Somerset Council's financial emergency
Earlier this month it was announced the Council would need to consider “unprecedented” and “heart-breaking” steps to bridge a £100m funding gap, including reductions to services and an increase in Council Tax.
Papers published ahead of next week’s Executive meeting provides an update, showing important changes to two of the savings proposals - and it's hoped that support from Town Councils will enable the CCTV service to continue, while Yeovil Recreation Ground could be devolved to Yeovil Town Council.
Talks about supporting other services are continuing with other City, Town and Parish Council Partners.
Council Leader Bill Revans said: “We’ve been fully open about our financial emergency and have sought to raise awareness of the broken system of local government funding, where costs for statutory services like social care are rising much faster than our ability to raise income.
“Meanwhile we have been exploring every option and working proactively to find alternative ways to run services which we can no longer afford. I’m pleased to see the updates to proposals around CCTV and Yeovil Rec and hope many other services will be protected by working in partnership with our excellent communities and their City, Town and Parish Councils.”
Somerset Council’s Executive on 7 February will be asked to consider a plan to use reserves, significant savings, a Council Tax increase, and the sale of council assets to set a balanced budget.
Cllr Revans added: “This is not a position any of us would want to be in but sadly this national problem will have very real impacts on local people, including our hard-working staff. We are having to look at every option and it is clear we need to reduce our budget to ensure the council is sustainable for the long term.
“I do not believe there is an alternative. If both requests are rejected by Government then a S114 notice will be inevitable. This simply means well paid commissioners would come in and cut all non-statutory services, regardless of impact, impose a more drastic reduction in our staff numbers, while raising Council Tax and other fees even more than we are proposing. We are doing everything we can to minimise the impact on our residents by taking the responsibility here in Somerset.”
You're urged to take part in Somerset Council's budget-setting process.
You can do this by attending Scrutiny Committee (2 Feb), Executive (7 Feb) and/or Full Council (20 Feb) either in person or online.
The Council’s recent Budget Consultation attracted almost 6,000 comments - and you can check out a report on this on the Somerset Council website.
Cllr Revans added: “The public consultation demonstrated there’s real appetite out there for people to come forward and get involved. We want people to keep talking to us so we can hear what they have to say about their priorities and where they think we could make savings. This will help us make the right decisions, no matter how difficult.”