Calling time on Somerset Council
As the finances of our unitary council implode, we ask if we really neeed one? There is an absurdity to the inconsistency in democratic accountability of the various local services we receive.
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Calling time on Somerset Council
Our local services here in Somerset are a strangely mixed bag. Depending on what they are, you may or may not have a say on how they are run.
Take for instance the Police. There is an election for the Avon & Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner every four years. The elected Commissioner holds the Police budget and holds the Police to account for their performance. And the Commissioner is someone you choose. The Commissioner charges a precept to fund the Police. This comes with your council tax demand each year.
The Devon & Somerset Police and Fire Service is run by an unelected board. You have no say in either the budget or the way the service is run. Yet just like the Police, you are charged a precept that pays for the service. It too is added to your council tax.
The Integrated Care Board (now known as NHS Somerset) is responsible for the NHS budget in Somerset. It has representatives on the board from several different organisations. Not one of the board members is elected by you, the public.
And as the recent consultation on the closure of the Hyper Acute Stroke Unit in Yeovil demonstrated, when NHS Somerset consult the public, they do so because it is something the rules require. They do not have to listen to the feedback, even less to act on it.
The budget for NHS Somerset comes from central government taxation but you have no say locally on how much money the service gets or where it is spent. It is at the local level, democratically unaccountable.
you have no say locally on how much money the service gets or where it is spent
Then we come to Somerset Council. The unitary body created by merging the old county council and four district councils. It is elected every four years with massively hyped elections. 110 councillors are chosen by you to carry out a range of services.
As you can hardly fail to have noticed, it is also running out of money. Many of the “extras” are being cut and we will be left with a residual authority carrying out only “statutory” services.
Local council elections are beloved by politicians and commentators because they can be used to judge the mood of electors in between General Elections. But do they really serve any useful purpose? Do we need these mass elections and do we actually need a Somerset Council?