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]
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]
History of elections
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.
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]
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]
Functions
Somerset Council delivers all local services to the county.
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.
Children's services
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]
Funding cuts
Somerset County Council needed to save £19.5million in 2017/18, but only cut £11.1million. 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 12months.[36] In September 2018, the council voted through £28million 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 £114million.[29]
Following the change to unitary status, in November 2023 the council declared a financial emergency, projecting an overspend of £27million in that year and a deficit of £100million for 2024–2025, arising in part from an expected increase of £70million in the cost of adult social care.[37][38] It was also reported that the council had inherited Council Tax arrears of more than £43million from the four district councils.[39]
Governance
Somerset County Council operated the local governmentcabinet 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]
^Edwards, John (1955). 'County' in Chambers's Encyclopedia. London: George Newnes. pp. 189–191.
^Keane, Patrick (1973). "An English County and Education: Somerset, 1889–1902". The English Historical Review. 88 (347): 286–311. doi:10.1093/ehr/LXXXVIII.CCCXLVII.286.
