Somerset levels its local authority arrangements

By Drew Aspinwall

The discussion and debate around creating a unitary authority for Somerset has been underway for many years. In December 2021 it was confirmed by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), that elections for the new single unitary council should take place in May 2022. The announcement rejected a rival proposal by the four district councils to set up two separate authorities, with one in charge of the east of the county and the other covering the west.

Somerset County Council (SCC) and the existing district councils of South Somerset District Council, Sedgemoor District Council, Mendip District Council and Somerset West & Taunton Council, itself a relatively new council born out of Taunton Deane Borough Council and West Somerset Council in 2019, will now all be replaced by a new unitary council.

The move to ‘One Somerset’ has been welcomed by the county council who developed and championed the proposal whilst the district councils have made it clear that they do not support this announcement.
There will be a period of overlap where the new authority will be created running on a ‘continuing authority’ basis from SCC and alongside the district councils up until April 2023 when these will be abolished and the new council will officially come into being.

The new Somerset Council will have 110 councillors in total, compared to the 55 on the current county council. This leaves over 200 district councillors, many of whom are long standing, with a good number already wearing both district and county council hats, to decide whether they stand for a seat in the new council or step aside for a new generation of members to take the unitary forward.

The new Somerset Council proposes to fill any criticism regarding democratic deficit by setting up of Local Community Networks (LCNs) which ‘will give communities power to influence decisions about their local area’, ‘making sure that local areas will have an ongoing voice to shape their new council to suit their local needs’.

There have been pilot LCNs set up to dry run this new approach in Exmoor (around Highway service delivery) and Frome (around Children, Families and Young People), with further three in the pipeline. It is anticipated that there will be between 15 and 20 LCNs in the new council structure, which will see elected members sit on the LCN in their area, alongside partner groups. The LCN will have formal power as ‘committees of the council’.

From the perspective of strategic developments and major economic drivers in Somerset, including Hinkley Point C which is currently under construction, key to the success of the new council will be how the transition period of ‘continuing authority’ works in practice, when all the current planning permissions, knowledge and knowhow will need to be transferred and consolidated into the new single authority.

The initial success, or perceived success of this major restructure internally and externally, in democratic terms will be undertaken under the close scrutiny of local residents and the business community, who will be keen to see continuity of service and the realisation of the promises made by those promoting the unitary council model for so long.