Council voting delayed while 'One Somerset' or 'Stronger Somerset' debate is settled
This May's Somerset council elections have been postponed for a year.
Last updated 23rd Feb 2021
Instead there'll be an 8-week consultation to decide how the five main councils should be scrapped and replaced to save money.
Residents will now decide whether to have just one main council or two.
The government say this year's local police and crime commissioner election will go ahead as planned though.
The four district councils - Mendip, Sedgemoor, Somerset West and Taunton and South Somerset – jointly submitted a proposal for two unitary councils: Eastern Somerset comprising the area covered by Mendip and South Somerset District Councils and Western Somerset comprising area covered by Sedgemoor and Somerset West & Taunton District Councils.
Somerset County Council submitted a proposal for a single unitary council for the area of Somerset it currently covers.
Local Government Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP said: "I have always been clear that any restructuring of local government must be locally-led and will not involve top-down solutions from government.
"Now that councils in Cumbria, North Yorkshire and Somerset have submitted their proposals, I am pleased residents, businesses and service providers will have the opportunity to have their say on what will work best for their area.
"Where there is local support, changing the structure of local government can offer better value for money and improved services for residents.
"Subject to Parliamentary approval, we would expect any new unitary council to be fully operational from April 2023 with transitional arrangements expected to be in place from 2022, including elections in May 2022 to the shadow or continuing councils."
For a rough outline of the proposals click here
For more about the consultation process click here