Somerset this week: 27 June 2025
In a busy week we have a Taunton farmer fined in court, a row over solar panels in Bridgwater, proposals for local government finance, unhappiness in Frome at the Leisure Centre and a geography lesson
Dear readers
This has not been the quietest week and having released two more special pieces in short succession, we arrive at our regular weekly news summary. Phew!
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Plus ça change?
Going through some old emails this week our editor came across a press release from July 2015. “Council Leader calls for fairer funding for Somerset” demanded the headline. Back then it was Somerset County Council, a Conservative administration and the Leader was John Osman.
How times have changed - except that they haven’t.
It may be Somerset Council, a LibDem administration with Bill Revans as Leader, but the issue is still at the top of Somerset’s agenda.
Last week the Labour Government announced just that. A new, fairer funding deal. In their words it would be: “An overhaul of the outdated and complex council system will bring fairer funding, more stability and improve lives of people across the country.”
What exactly will happen, well that’s much harder to determine. We are promised a “New place-based, focussed formula to target money to places most in need, replacing decade old data and outdated funding system.” Good words, though we weren’t quite sure what they meant.
Councils will probably be more impressed by the promise of multi-year settlements which will enable better and more reliable planning for the future.
The lack of precise detail is probably because the announcement is not of an actual plan, but an eight-week consultation on what the actual plan might contain.
Ideas include:
recognition that the remoteness of rural areas leads to additional costs in delivering services and
assessment of deprivation in urban areas to ensure the poorest in communities are properly funded.
What was missing was an understanding that sometimes deprivation, some of the worst deprivation, can occur in rural areas. But then this is a consultation so hopefully someone will explain that.
An update on the formula to fund adult social care is also promised, ensuring that councils collect business rates and removing the bidding process for small grants, consolidating grant funding into large pots to save time and costs when bidding for central government money.
The consultation has been broadly welcomed by local government. Jonathan Carr-West, Chief Executive, Local Government Information Unit (LGIU), greeted the plans thus: “LGIU welcomes the government’s consultation on fair funding, which promises to be a much-needed update to the grant allocation formulae that recognises how much the local government landscape has changed, moves away from bid funding and will give struggling councils a more proportionate level of funding for their needs.
We would urge councils responding to the consultation to take into account not only how the funding formulae will affect your services, but also how the new grant allocation will interact with other reforms coming down the line, especially reorganisation, devolution and adult social care reform.”
We contacted our local councils to get their take on the new proposals. Cllr Mark Elliott, Deputy Council Leader and Cabinet Member for Resources of Bath & North East Somerset Council, was cautious in his welcome for the new proposals and consultation. He told Somerset Confidential®: “While we welcome the extra money announced by the Chancellor for the NHS and schools, and the additional funding for housing and warm homes is a step in the right direction, the devil is always in the detail. It’s not yet clear how much of this is genuinely new money or what conditions may be attached. I remain particularly concerned that there’s still no clear plan to resolve the urgent challenges in funding social care, which continues to place huge pressure on councils—including our own.
“We also need to understand how national decisions translate into impacts on services and Council Tax for residents in Bath & North East Somerset, and we’ll be preparing a response to the Fair Funding Review. It’s good to see long-overdue progress, but Bath & North East Somerset Council receives around 20% in ‘core spending power’ below the England average and the proposals must reflect the pressures councils like ours are under.”
Over at North Somerset Council there were similar echoes of the same point. It seems Somerset Councils all get a bit of a raw deal when compared with the national average. Cllr Mike Bell, Leader of North Somerset Council told us: “We welcome the government’s acknowledgement that the current funding model for local councils is broken and unfair and needs to change. This eight-week government consultation is long overdue. North Somerset Council currently receives just £805 in government funding per household in 2025/26 (excluding council tax), compared to the English average of £1,211 which is unfair for our residents and communities. This means we are having to make difficult and challenging decisions to balance our budget in the face of increasing costs and demand for our services, particularly adult and children services. Without change and sustainable funding models, local government in this country will die a slow death by a thousand cuts. We will continue to urge the government to better and fairly fund local councils across the country, but we need action and not words to ensure we can continue to deliver key frontline services which our residents rely upon.”
We will continue to urge the government to better
But the council in perhaps the most immediate need of help from a reformed system, is Somerset Council. Cllr Bill Revans, Leader of Somerset Council, has more reason than most to welcome a change which might steer Somerset Council away from the edge of the financial abyss: “We’ve been raising our concerns for some time that the model for funding councils is broken and does not work as a way of funding demand-led services like social care, homelessness and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
Action is needed urgently, and we welcome proposals which could see the creation of a simpler and fairer funding system with long-term financial certainty. However, we also need to ensure all councils have a fair share of resources to provide good quality services whilst meeting rapidly growing demand and costs.
It is important to get this right and we will be working through the details to consider how best to respond to the consultation to ensure that any changes give us a greater ability to deliver vital services for our residents, businesses and communities.”
The consultation is under way, it will be interesting to see what the Government does with the responses and whether the new settlement is enough to restore the finances of councils in our patch in general, and Somerset Council in particular.
Potato farmer pays up
David Mitchell appeared before Taunton Magistrates Court last week (on 18 June) to plead guilty to an offence of causing silt-laden water from a field under his control at Combe Florey to enter a stream on two occasions in August and again on September 2022. An incident that led to the closure of the A358.
David Womack, of the Environment Agency (EA), said: “David Mitchell had control and custody of the land he rented up until the point of harvest and was therefore responsible for the land management practices.
He chose to grow a high-risk crop on a sloping field with light soils. As an experienced potato farmer he should have identified the risks of using this field and taken reasonable steps to prevent large scale soil loss.
No formal risk assessment and no adequate precautions to prevent soil loss had been taken. This made it highly likely that soil erosion and environmental damage would occur in even moderate rainfall conditions.”
no adequate precautions to prevent soil loss had been taken
Thunderstorms and wet weather conditions resulted in the loss of an estimated 50-100 tonnes of soil from the field. Large numbers of potatoes could be seen in the watercourse and along the edge of the roadside, along with the significant quantities of silt and mud. The busy A358 had to be closed on two occasions for the Highways Agency to clear drains and remove tonnes of soil from the road.
Mitchell who is also a partner in Mitchells Chartered Accountants and co-owner of the Rumwell Farm Shop just outside Taunton, pleaded guilty to an offence of causing silt-laden water from a field under his control at Combe Florey to enter a stream on two occasions in August and again on September 2022.
He was given full credit for his guilty plea by the District Judge and fines and compensation were ordered to be paid within 12 months. He was ordered to pay a total of £9,078 in fines and costs based on his means as disclosed to the court. The court heard that other clean-up costs, equipment purchases and compensation to the landowner, already paid by Mr Mitchell, have totalled over £35,000.
It was not made clear if that also included the compensation paid over to Somerset Council for the costs of clearing the road so it could be reopened although subsequently an environment spokesperson told us that in court it had been clarified that the costs paid to Somerset Council were included in the quoted £35,000.
Cllr Mike Rigby who among other things is the Divisional Councillor for the area where the incidents occurred told Somerset Confidential®: “The closure of the A358 caused immense inconvenience to the travelling public and especially local residents. The method of farming contributed directly to the events causing the road closure, not once but twice. It is right that the grower is held responsible for their poor practices.
I am pleased to see that the courts have levied some reasonable penalties although the fines themselves are frankly derisory. I would once again urge the courts to take environmental crimes seriously.
I’m also pleased to see that we have managed to recover from the grower the costs of cleaning up the two events which ran to almost £20,000.”
Bridgwater panels row
What could be easier to agree on than placing solar panels on the roof of a council-owned building to provide green energy and reduce energy costs? Well this is Bridgwater, a wonderfully quirky town but where a row can break out over a paperclip. This is especially true when local politics comes into things.
At the June meeting of the Council there was a proposal to purchase solar panels to be placed on the roof of the ReCreation Community Hub in Hamp.
Conservative councillors were suspicious when the Town Clerk presented a paper recommending that the Financial Regulations be waived to allow the decision to be taken.
Cllr Rodrigues, Leader of the Conservatives asserted that the Financial Regulations could only be waived in an emergency and as this didn’t look like an emergency, he could not see why this was allowed.
The Conservative member voted against the proposals, and the Labour councillors in favour. Bridgwater politics being the way it is, this meant the proposals were carried by a comfortable majority.
Being naturally curious types we had a look at the Financial Regulations. Yes, that’s about as exciting as watching paint dry, but someone has to do it. In fact the Financial Regulations are very clear. Section 18 (in case you wondered) states: “The council may, by resolution duly notified prior to the relevant meeting of council, suspend any part of these Financial Regulations, provided that reasons for the suspension are recorded and that an assessment of the risks arising has been presented to all members. Suspension does not disapply any legislation or permit the council to act unlawfully.”
“provided that reasons for the suspension are recorded”
There’s no mention of emergency here. And, having checked with the Town Clerk, a paper explaining why the Financial Regulations might be waived was presented to the council. It was a Full Council Meeting and proper notice was given. Additionally the paper circulated by the Council’s Responsible Financial Officer to councillors explained the rationale for waiving the Financial Regulations.
Which was?
Most solar panels are made in China. The Town Council’s insurers will not insure buildings with Chinese-manufactured solar panels on them. The Town Council could only identify one supplier of non-Chinese-manufactured panels (these are made in Norway) and hence wished to waive Financial Regulations so there would be no need to get three quotes.
The Town Clerk also explained that there are regulations other than the Council’s own Financial Regulations, but these had also been complied with.
Anything to see here then? Perhaps not this time.
More please
It is rare that these pages are devoted to delight over the approval of new planning applications. Mainly because too often they are sited in small communities, on good quality agricultural land and don’t meet an actual housing need.
So it is a happy occasion when we can report on an approved development that actually seems sensibly thought through.
Now that Somerton has a brand new primary school, the former site of the Infants School at Etsome Terrace is available for redevelopment. As such it is a brownfield site, in the middle (well on the western side but you get the point) of the town and it is to be developed to provide 16 affordable homes (four terraces of three houses and one block of four flats) together with access, parking and landscaping.
In short, this is exactly the sort of housing we do need in a place that makes sense and does not affect agriculture.
The intention is for 100% of the units to be social rent affordable housing. The slight caveat being that the applicant has confirmed that the scheme will only go ahead as 100% affordable housing if grant funding is secured from Homes England.
So watch this space. If only this could be seen as a precedent for future developments … a norm rather than the exception that it currently is.
Wessex expands
Wessex Internet, an independent specialist in rural broadband connectivity, has secured funds to help expand the number of homes in the Wessex area connected by its service from 40,000 to 137,000.
The company has been awarded £50 million investment from the National Wealth Fund (NWF) which comes on top of a further £72m from Building Digital UK (BDUK), a government programme enabling hard-to-reach communities to access fast, reliable gigabit-capable broadband.
Currently, 85% of all UK premises have gigabit-broadband and the government’s target is to reach 99% coverage nationwide by 2030.
Wessex Internet told Somerset Confidential® that in addition to government funds, shareholders have committed sufficient capital to fully fund the five year business plan.
The areas set to benefit from the expansion of digital infrastructure are within Dorset, South Somerset, South Wiltshire, and the New Forest area of Hampshire. In Somerset the area being targeted is the rural part of the county around Sparkford.
The founder of the business started the company out of frustration at the poor quality of service he was getting in Shroton, North Dorset. Wessex, which also provides an internet service once connectivity is established, claims that its success is driven by a different way of working. The company has made a business out of “filling in” rural delivery, connecting homes and businesses overlooked by larger legacy providers.
It claims to take a sustainable approach, working closely with farmers and landowners to lay cables under fields, reducing the need for roadworks and minimising disruption. It was the first company to win a Project Gigabit contract from Building Digital UK (BDUK) in 2022.
Hector Gibson Fleming, CEO of Wessex Internet, told us: “We are delighted with the National Wealth Fund’s decision to support us with this investment which will support the scale and pace of Wessex Internet’s rural network build and enables us to continue delivering high-quality digital infrastructure in areas that have historically faced limited connectivity.
As a family-owned business, our focus has always been on ensuring that these regions can access reliable full fibre broadband, which supports local economic development and long-term community needs.”
Fish out of water
Frome Sports and Fitness Centre is a council owned facility which, like so many in our patch, has been farmed out to a private management company to run. In fairness this sort of arrangement can often smoothly, but when it goes wrong, things can get a bit harder to get to the bottom of. For instance you can’t slap a Freedom of Information request on a private operator of a public facility.
And at Frome Sports and Fitness Centre things have definitely been going wrong. The centre is owned by Somerset Council and managed for them by Fusion Leisure.
Somerset Councillor for the area, Adam Boyden explained that the boiler broke at Christmas and the pool was out of action completely then for a few weeks. Repairs were carried out but it has since broken down again. It needs to be replaced. Cllr Boyden told us: “Fusion are offering ‘cold water swimming’ but the small pool is closed and school swimming lessons are off.”
The floodlights at the artificial turf pitch need replacing too. Apparently this is being scheduled to happen in September.
Initially the company engaged with local councillor Adam Boyden and MP Anna Sabine meeting them at the start of June. Following complaints from residents they ran a survey to gather more information and sat down with the management of the centre.
They promised to invest in repairs and improvements at the centre and to replace the swimming pools’ faulty boiler, which Anna Sabine was told, should be up and running in July.
Since then frustrations have come to the boil. More complaints from residents have emerged and this time management would not engage. The MP issued a press release this week explaining that the problems have persisted. Centre users reported that the pool’s boiler had failed again and Fusion have gone silent on reimbursements for those with memberships who have been unable to use the swimming pool.
“The ongoing issues at Fusion are unacceptable”
The MP then added: “The ongoing issues at Fusion are unacceptable. Members and families rely on this community facility, and they deserve transparency, compensation, and practical solutions. Fusion must explain how they will update customers, reimburse direct debit payments, and mitigate any impact to children's swimming lessons moving forward.”
Ms Sabine says she has since contacted Fusion twice more, but has received no response. We also contacted the company through their website with exactly the same result. It seems they have very little to say.
Meanwhile Cllr Boyden noted that. “Somerset Council has very limited powers or no powers at all on operational matters under the 50 year lease and contract signed by the previous mandate Mendip District Council Conservative administration.” At the time Adam was the opposition spokesperson on Leisure and opposed the contract.
Neighbouring Somerset Councillor, Martin Dimery shares that opposition. He told us: “The Sports Centre was built, along with the Merlin Theatre, some 50 years ago, to provide facilities that would be used extensively every day by both the public and Frome College students. Since then, the tendering out of community owned facilities to private contractors and, in the case of schools -academy chains, has created a privatisation culture which is not always compatible with providing a fully accountable public service."
Easy mistake to make
We have had occasion in the past to point out that the Glastonbury Festival, as our readers surely know, does not take place in Glastonbury. The festival site is in reality, somewhat closer to Shepton Mallet than it is to Glastonbury. But the name has stuck and it rolls off the tongue better when saluting the crowds…
So when MP Mark Francois showed a grasp of geography on a par with his grasp of music, it was perhaps not a surprise. Mr Francois, a shadow minister was contributing to a Commons debate for Armed Forces Day when he responded to a point made by Glastonbury and Somerton MP Sarah Dyke.
He opined: “Forgive me, Mr Deputy Speaker, but as it is taking place in the hon. Lady’s constituency, why on earth are Kneecap being allowed to appear at the Glastonbury festival? Why on earth have the organisers allowed that to take place?”
Sarah Dyke shot back at him: “On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. If I may just correct the right hon. Gentleman, the Glastonbury festival site is not in my constituency.”
It is, if you’ll allow us our own point of order, in the Wells and Mendip Hills constituency where Tessa Munt is the MP!
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