Somerset Council | |
---|---|
Type | |
Type | |
History | |
Founded | 1 April 1889 |
Leadership | |
Duncan Sharkey since 3 October 2022 [3] | |
Structure | |
Seats | 110 councillors |
Political groups |
|
Length of term | 4 years (from 2027) |
Elections | |
First past the post | |
Last election | 5 May 2022 |
Next election | 6 May 2027 |
Meeting place | |
County Hall, The Crescent, Taunton, TA1 4DY | |
Website | |
www |
Somerset Council, known until 1 April 2023 as Somerset County Council, is the unitary authority which governs the district of Somerset, which occupies the southern part of the ceremonial county of the same name in the South West of England. The council has been controlled by the Liberal Democrats since the 2022 local elections, and its headquarters is County Hall in Taunton.
The council was created on 1 April 1889 to govern the administrative county of Somerset. The county was reformed in 1974, becoming a non-metropolitan county with a county council and five, later four, districts. The districts were abolished in 2023 and the county council took on their responsibilities, becoming a unitary authority. [4]
The Conservative Party has been the largest or second-largest party on the council since 1973, and since 1981 has competed with the Liberal Democrats for control; each party has formed several majority administrations in the period since. [5]
County councils were first introduced in England and Wales from 1889 as a result of the Local Government Act 1888, taking over administrative functions until then carried out by the unelected Quarter Sessions. [6] Somerset County Council was established in on 1 April 1889; the administrative county excluded the county borough of Bath. [7]
In 1974, as part of wider reforms to local government in England and Wales, Somerset became a non-metropolitan county governed by a county council and five districts: Sedgemoor, West Somerset, Taunton Deane, South Somerset, and Mendip. [8] At the same time the north of the administrative county became part of the new non-metropolitan county of Avon; the county was abolished in 1996, and this area is now two unitary authorities within the ceremonial county of Somerset. In 2019 West Somerset and Taunton Deane were merged to form Somerset West and Taunton. [9]
The first proposal create a Somerset unitary authority was made in 2007, but was rejected in a local referendum and subsequently abandoned by the Department for Communities and Local Government. [10] In 2020 the idea was revived, and on 1 April 2023 the four district councils were abolished and their functions assumed by the county council, which was renamed Somerset Council. [4] The councillors elected in May 2022 oversaw the reforms and will serve until 2027. [11]
The first elections to the new county council were held on 23 January 1889. Since then, members have been elected for a term of office (initially three years, now four), with elections held all together on the "first past the post" system.
Until the early 1970s, the County Council still included aldermen. Of a total of 92 members, 69 were elected every three years by ratepayers, and 23 were aldermen, chosen by the 69 elected members. The aldermen served for six years, so after each triennial election either eleven or twelve were appointed, these numbers alternating. [12] Until 1910, the outgoing aldermen could also vote on such appointments. As voting members of the council, aldermen were finally abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 [13] so that there are now only the elected members, each of the 55 present county divisions electing a single member up to 2017, and then two members for the final 2022 election.
In 2009, the council was made up of 58 seats. From 2013 until 2022 council elections were fought over a 55-seat council. Both periods saw the use of first past the post as the election system and saw Conservative majorities returned.
In 2009, the Conservative Party UK won 35 seats, [14] a six seat majority, with the Liberal Democrats UK coming second with 21 seats, in 2013 the Conservative Party UK won 29 seats, [15] a one seat majority, with the Liberal Democrats UK coming second with 18 seats and UKIP (a new entrant) coming joint third with Labour Party UK on three seats. In 2017 the Conservative Party UK won back seats and ended up winning 35 seats, [16] gaining them a seven seat majority, in this election, UKIP did not stand and the Liberal Democrats UK continued their loss of seats dropping to 12 (although they remained in second place).
The 2022 local elections in Somerset were fought on new boundaries, with 110 seats available within the new unitary council. [17] In this election the Liberal Democrats UK won 61 seats granting them a five seat majority, the Conservative Party UK came second with 36 seats. [18]
The Conservative governments of Theresa May and Boris Johnson undertook structural changes to local government in England, that resulted in several county councils and their district councils being replaced by unitary authorities. [19]
Somerset County Council drew up initial plans for unitarisation in 2018. [20] Its proposal was for a single new unitary authority that would encompass all the districts, while the joint counter-proposal of the four district councils (Somerset West and Taunton, South Somerset, Mendip, and Sedgemoor) was for two new unitary authorities representing respectively the areas of East Somerset and West Somerset. [21] A non-binding referendum of residents held in June 2021 expressed a preference for the two-authority proposal. [22] Nevertheless, the central government minister responsible, Robert Jenrick, selected the plan for a single authority. [23] [24]
Somerset Council delivers all local services to the county.
Somerset Council appoints seven members to the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority. [25]
Before becoming a unitary authority the county council was responsible for the more strategic local services of Somerset, with a changing pattern of lower-tier authorities existing alongside it within its area and responsible for other more local services, such as waste collection. The Council provided a wide range of services, including education (schools, libraries and youth services), social services, highway maintenance, waste disposal, emergency planning, consumer protection and town and country planning for matters to do with minerals, waste, highways and education. This made it one of the largest employers in Somerset. [26] The Council outsourced some work to a joint venture with IBM, SouthWest One, created in 2007. [27] In September 2012 the Council prepared to sue Southwest One as a result of a procurement quality dispute. [28]
Somerset County Council contributed to encouraging businesses to relocate to the county through the inward investment agency Into Somerset.
In January 2013, Ofsted inspectors gave Somerset Councils' Children’s Services the lowest rating of "inadequate". [29]
In January 2015, Ofsted reinspected the Children’s Services Department and concluded that it remained "inadequate". The corresponding report found no improvement in the care provided by the children's services and described a "corporate failure" to keep children safe. Ofsted found there were "widespread or serious failures" which it considered placed children to be harmed or at risk of harm. The report also identified managers who "have not been able to demonstrate sufficient understanding of failures" and had been ineffective in "prioritising, challenging and making improvements". [30]
In January 2015, Julian Wooster was appointed director of Children's Services, the fifth such appointment in five years. [30]
In November 2017, the service was inspected by Ofsted. Services were judged to have improved, but still "require[d] improvement to be good" in all but one area. The report found that services for children needing help and protection required improvement, as did leadership, management and governance. The inspectors concluded that too many children in foster care experienced moves between placements before they were found the right home. Inspectors singled out adoption services as being "good". [31]
In July 2022, the service was judged by Ofsted to be "good" in all areas, but found that two areas still needed improvement: placement sufficiency, and the take-up of return home interviews for children who have been missing. [32]
Somerset County Council needed to save £19.5 million in 2017/18, but only cut £11.1 million. Cuts were announced to highways, public transport and special needs services. Staff were told to take two days off unpaid for the coming two years. The chief executive said he had "no choice" because of cuts to central government funding. Further proposed cuts include reducing winter gritting, suspending 'park and ride' services, stopping funding for Citizens Advice, cutting adult social care and support for people with learning difficulties, cuts to the GetSet programme which helps stop vulnerable young people needing social care. [33] [34]
In July 2018, two senior Conservative councillors resigned over concerns regarding the council's handling of financial matters. Dean Ruddle and Neil Bloomfield had previously held roles as the respective chair and vice chair of the audit committee. [35] An official audit of the council criticised its "pervasive" overspending and its failure to deliver sufficient savings over the previous 12 months. [36] In September 2018, the council voted through £28 million of spending cuts, spread over the next two years. Critics of the cuts, including Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors, noted that between 2009 and 2016, Somerset's Conservative administration had voted to freeze Council Tax, when an increase of 1.9% would have brought in an additional £114 million. [29]
Following the change to unitary status, in November 2023 the council declared a financial emergency, projecting an overspend of £27 million in that year and a deficit of £100 million for 2024–2025, arising in part from an expected increase of £70 million in the cost of adult social care. [37] [38] It was also reported that the council had inherited Council Tax arrears of more than £43 million from the four district councils. [39]
Somerset County Council operated the local government cabinet system which was introduced by the Local Government Act 2000. Previously called the "Executive Board", the Cabinet consists of six county councillors and is the county council's main decision making body, taking most important decisions about its functions. [40] Each of the members of the Cabinet is directly responsible for a particular area of county council activities. [41]
Decisions to do with the planning matters dealt with by the county council and other regulatory matters are still taken in a committee called the Regulation Committee. [42]
On 5 May 2022, the Liberal Democrats won 61 of the 110 county council seats, giving them control of the unitary authority after the 2023 reforms. [43]
Party | Councillors | |
---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | 61 | |
Conservative | 36 | |
Labour | 5 | |
Green | 5 | |
Independent | 3 | |
Total | 110 | |
Source: Election results on BBC News |
Jacqueline Margaret Ballard has been a charity senior manager, politician and journalist in the United Kingdom. She served as Liberal Democrat MP for Taunton from 1997 to 2001.
Taunton Deane was a local government district with borough status in Somerset, England. Its council was based in Taunton.
Bath and North East Somerset Council is the local council for the district of Bath and North East Somerset in Somerset, England.
Taunton Deane is a constituency in Somerset represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Rebecca Pow of the Conservative Party since 2015.
Cumbria County Council was the county council for the non-metropolitan county of Cumbria in the North West of England. Established in April 1974, following its first elections held the previous year, it was an elected local government body responsible for the most significant local services in the area, including schools, roads, and social services.
North Yorkshire Council is the unitary authority which governs the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire, within the larger ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, in England. North Yorkshire was a two-tier non-metropolitan county from 1974 to 2023, when North Yorkshire Council was a county council called North Yorkshire County Council. On 1 April 2023 the seven lower-tier districts of the county were abolished and their functions taken over by the new unitary authority.
Tessa Jane Muntnée Vasey is a British Liberal Democrat politician. She served as the Member of Parliament for Wells in Somerset from 2010 to 2015 and had previously served as the Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Vince Cable. She is currently a member of the executive committee of Somerset Council, the unitary authority for the county of Somerset.
The 2011 United Kingdom local elections was held on Thursday May 5. In England, direct elections were held in all 36 Metropolitan boroughs, 194 Second-tier district authorities, 49 unitary authorities and various mayoral posts, meaning local elections took place in all parts of England with the exception of seven unitary authorities, and seven districts and boroughs. For the majority of English districts and the 25 unitary authorities that are elected "all out" these were the first elections since 2007. In Northern Ireland, there were elections to all 26 local councils. Elections also took place to most English parish councils.
North Somerset Council is the local authority of North Somerset, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services including Council Tax billing, libraries, social services, processing planning applications, waste collection and disposal, and it is a local education authority. The council meets at Weston-super-Mare Town Hall.
Sedgemoor District Council was a local government district in Somerset, England covering the Sedgemoor district. It was established in 1974 by the merger of Bridgwater and Burnham-On-Sea Urban District Councils. It was replaced on 1 April 2023 by Somerset Council.
The 2015 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 7 May 2015, the same day as the general election for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.
The 2019 United Kingdom local elections took place on Thursday 2 May 2019, with 248 English local councils, six directly elected mayors in England, and all 11 local councils in Northern Ireland being contested.
The 2021 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 6 May 2021. More than 145 English local councils, around 5,000 councillor seats, thirteen directly elected mayors in England, and 39 police and crime commissioners in England and Wales were contested. On the same day, the 2021 Hartlepool by-election took place, and there were also elections to the Scottish Parliament, Senedd and London Assembly, the last in conjunction with the London mayoral election.
Somerset West and Taunton was a local government district in Somerset, England, from 2019 to 2023. It was established on 1 April 2019 by the Somerset West and Taunton Order 2018. The council replaced the Taunton Deane and West Somerset councils, which governed the same area from 1974.
Dorset Council is a unitary local authority for the district of Dorset, encompassing almost all of the county of the same name (Dorset) except for the district of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. Created in April 2019, the council was formed when the county moved from a two-tier county council and district council system to a one-tier system, with the county divided into two districts administered by two independent unitary authorities.
Structural changes to local government in England took place between 2019 and 2023. Some of these changes continue the trend of new unitary authorities being created from other types of local government districts, which was a policy of Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick from 2019.
The 2019 North Somerset Council election took place on 2 May 2019 to elect members of North Somerset Council in England.
The 2022 Somerset Council election took place on 5 May 2022. It was the inaugural election of the new unitary authority, Somerset Council, which replaced Somerset County Council on 1 April 2023. All 110 councillors were elected, representing the same divisions as the old county council, but with twice as many councillors representing each. The councillors elected first sat as members of the existing county council until its replacement by the new authority. The same councillors are now members of Somerset Council.
The 2022 United Kingdom local elections took place on Thursday 5 May 2022. These included elections for all London borough councils, for all local authorities in Wales and Scotland. Most seats in England were last up for election in 2018 and in Scotland and Wales in 2017. The elections coincided with the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election. In 91 cases, most of them in Wales, council seats were uncontested, each having only one candidate. Three seats in Scotland remained unfilled as no one nominated to fill them.