TWO of Somerset’s five MPs, including Frome’s Sarah Dyke have demanded an urgent rethink of how local government is funded as the county’s new unitary authority seeks to avoid bankruptcy.
Somerset Council declared a financial emergency in early-November 2023 and has been debating proposals to cut more than £35m worth of services to plug a projected budget gap of £87m next year.
Ian Liddell-Grainger (the Conservative MP for Bridgwater and West Somerset) and Sarah Dyke (the Liberal Democrat MP for Somerton and Frome) are among more than 40 MPs who have written to the government demanding additional funding to prevent substantial damage to front-line services.
The letter has been welcomed by council leader Bill Revans, just four weeks before the council will set its final budget for the next 12 months. The letter, addressed to both prime minister Rishi Sunak and levelling up secretary Michael Gove MP, was jointly sent by the County Councils Network (CCN) and the County All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG).
It criticised the government for not providing any additional funding for local councils within November’s autumn statement, and for the local government settlement agreed just before Christmas providing limited respite from the challenges being faced across the county.
The letter stated, “As a result of the prolonged higher inflation and escalating demand for services, county and unitary councils are facing overspending their budgets by almost £650m this year. In total, they face a funding shortfall of £4bn over the next three years, with planned savings only reducing this by half.
“The national living wage increase that was announced, while welcome to the individuals and families that we represent, will add hundreds of millions of additional, unplanned costs to councils’ budgets.”
Leaders of CCN councils previously wrote to the government on December 5, 2023, arguing they were “significantly worse off” as a result of these issues – concerns which were not addressed in the provisional local government financial settlement (i.e. how much councils will receive from central government) on December 18.
The letter continued, “The past 12 months have been tough financially for many of the communities that we represent given the unprecedented level of inflation and demand for services.
“We are therefore exceptionally concerned that without any additional investment, the overwhelming majority of upper tier councils in our areas are planning service reductions and higher council tax in order that they can pass a balanced budget for the next financial year, as they are legally required to do.
“There is still an opportunity to rectify the situation and ensure MPs are able to support the vote on the local government settlement within the House of Commons in early-February. We would therefore urge you to do all you can to provide additional funding for local government to ensure that the councils in our areas can continue to provide the services that our residents depend upon on a regular basis.
“Furthermore, given the pressures that are being exerted on budgets, we believe that any additional funding you are able to secure should be directed towards children’s services and home to school transport as combined these are exerting unprecedented pressure on local government services.”
The signatories (in addition to Sarah Dyke and Ian Liddell-Grainger) include two former communities secretaries, Greg Clark MP and Robert Jenrick MP, along with former home secretary Priti Patel MP, and former environment secretary Therese Coffey MP.
No reason has been provided as to why Somerset’s other three MPs – Rebecca Pow (Taunton Deane), James Heappey (Wells) and Marcus Fysh (Yeovil) – did not sign the letter.
Somerset Council’s perilous financial situation has been driven in no small part by rising demand and costs in both children’s services and adult social care.
Mr Revans has welcomed the letter, saying, “We’ve said the model for funding local government is broken. We’re not alone in making this claim. Here we have support from more than 40 MPs nationally, including two Somerset MPs of different political parties.
“The scenario they describe is exactly what is happening in Somerset, where due to soaring costs in social care we have no choice but to consider taking heart-breaking and unprecedented decisions to increase council tax while also reducing non-statutory services.
“I strongly support this letter and hope it leads to a meaningful conversation at a national level about funding for local councils.”
The council’s final budget proposals will be debated by its executive committee on February 7 before going to the full council for final approval on February 20.
