Somerset Council has been criticised for “offloading” responsibilities, assets, and services onto Town and Parish Councils, saving just £1.2 million while facing a £101 million budget black hole.
At a recent Executive meeting, Conservative Opposition Lead Member for Transformation, Cllr Sue Osborne, raised concerns around Somerset Council’s ongoing devolution programme. She said,
“So far, 38 devolution deals have been agreed, saving only £1.227 million, a very modest contribution towards filling the Council’s £101 million black hole. Residents, particularly in larger towns where precepts have risen sharply, can be forgiven for feeling that they are now paying twice for the same service.”
Several Parish and town councils are raising their precepts to take on services handed down from Somerset Council, but Somerset Council isn’t passing on the funding and is still increasing its own council tax.
Cllr Osborne asked the Liberal Democrat administration to confirm whether the programme had been independently audited for value for money, whether the transferred services were being delivered as agreed, and where the devolution scheme sits among the Council’s many competing priorities.
In response, Cllr Theo Butt Philip, Lead Member for Transformation, said that while over 60 transfers had now been completed, no formal value-for-money assessment had been undertaken and none was currently planned.
He said Somerset Council’s devolution costs mainly covered staff time, legal work, and programme management, and confirmed there were no plans to pause the programme despite pressures on finance and legal teams.
