A PRESSURE group  is calling for the people of Somerset to get a vote on whether their councils should be replaced with a new unitary authority.

Somerset Independents is calling for a referendum into the ‘One Somerset’ proposals put forward by the county council.

The group has described the unitary proposals as “brazen” and said it was wrong to embark on big changes to local government when the coronavirus pandemic was not over.

The council is beginning a formal survey on the proposals on Monday (June 22), with a business case expected to come before the full council in July.

A referendum – and a citizens’ assembly

Andrew Pope, co-founder of Somerset Independents, laid out his position at a virtual meeting of the council’s policies and place scrutiny committee on June 10.

He said: “The councils and councillors do not agree on how to re-organise themselves, with the county council advocating a unitary authority but the districts advocating co-operation instead.

“During a national emergency, this is not the time to be discussing such changes.

“It should not be councillors making this decision anyway, but the people of Somerset who would be affected and who, after all, pay the council tax, vote you in or out and contribute to your allowances.

“It is them that you serve. They are the ones to choose, as they will next year in the elections.

“A referendum in Somerset must occur before any such changes happen, and this would be best informed by a citizens’ assembly that listens and advises citizens on the options for change, including the option for no change.”

How much will it cost?

Somerset Independents was founded in early-2020 and seeks to protect “Somerset residents, their democratic rights, their area and families, their ways of life and their environment”.

Co-founder Denise Wyatt said the unitary plans were “a brazen attempt by the Conservative Party in Somerset and nationally to attempt to fix the political system in Somerset in their favour – and worse, at £17M of taxpayers’ expense.”

The Conservatives have controlled the county council since 2009, with the Liberal Democrats forming the main opposition.

The party controls only one of the four district councils (Sedgemoor), with two others being Lib Dem-held (Somerset West & Taunton and South Somerset) and one being under no overall control (Mendip).

Dr Carlton Brand, the One Somerset project leader, said the one-off cost of implementing the unitary authority would be between £17M and £22M.

The annual savings such an authority would generate is estimated as being between £22M and £27M.

County council leader David Fothergill stated on June 1 that the coronavirus crisis showed that “great results” could come from local authorities working closely together.

Speaking at the time, he said: “We know that having one council will keep those great services going, but also free up vital funding to invest in key areas like climate change and more local decision-making.

“We need this to work not just in a crisis, but in our day-to-day operations and that’s what unitary will do for Somerset.

“A unitary would allow more decisions to be made locally at parish, town and city level, rather than in more remote district council headquarters.”

Does anyone actually want a unitary – besides David Fothergill?

The short answer is: yes – and a couple of them had their views read out at the same meeting on June 10.

Chris Mann said changes in technology in the last 50 years and the failure of other attempts at collaboration made a strong case for a unitary council.

He said: “The current two-tier system was fair enough when we didn’t have the M5, PCs, internet, email, mobile phones, satnavs and smartphones.

“The public had to put up with not knowing who does what because you then needed many staff and managers.

“Council tax is very expensive for what it delivers, and management, back office and councillor costs must be reduced.

“Existing councils ‘working together’ has been tried before and didn’t happen, so it is most unlikely to save the claimed £10M. Councillors should seize this opportunity to put their citizens first.”

David Orr, who lives in Taunton, said he was a “firm supporter” of a unitary authority, but questioned the timing of the consultation.

He said: “The efficient unitary structure has served Wiltshire and Cornwall well and is now implemented in Dorset.

“It stands to reason that one of something is less costly than five of something, and any confusion as to who does what is, at a stroke, removed.

“However, I am really dismayed by the timing. I would have preferred it if every council in Somerset had agreed that none of this work would be undertaken until the Covid-19 outbreak was largely over, and our businesses and schools had at least begun a return to some sort of normality.

“Wales moved to all local authorities becoming unitary back in 1997, so my preferred option would be that the government decides all remaining two-tier authorities across England would become unitary councils.

“The public consultation would then only be about the geography and the number of unitary councils, not the outcome.”

How soon could this all happen?

Here is the current timeline for bringing about the new council if the One Somerset proposal moves forward:

 the county council completes its business case and it goes through democratic scrutiny before being submitted to the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)

September 2020: detailed engagement and consultation with the public over the proposals will be ramped up

October 2020: communities secretary Robert Jenrick MP will formally decide whether the business case is sound and the unitary idea should be taken forward

April 2021: a new ‘shadow authority’ will go live, comprising members of all existing councils, to oversee the transition of powers to the new council

May 6, 2021: the final elections for the county council will be held, electing 55 councillors to 54 divisions (the Glastonbury and Street division elects two councillors)

May 2021 to April 2022: the fine details of how the new authority will operate will be implemented – including how decisions on planning, licensing and other matters are taken at a local level

April 2022: the new council will officially take charge

May 2022: the first elections to the new council will be held

The county council’s online consultation on its One Somerset proposals opens on Monday (June 22) and runs until August 28. To take part in the survey, visit www.onesomerset.org.uk.