Proposals

How a single unitary council (One Somerset) would satisfy this point:

In summary, we believe that on every test, a single council will deliver significant benefits, including:

• End the current confusion and mess that having five councils creates.
• Cut red tape and the wasting of tax-payers money.
• Generate greater and quicker savings that can reinvested back into public services.
• Create new local opportunities for residents to have a real say about their own community.
• Create one council listening to the needs and concerns of residents, parishes and businesses, providing clear accountability to the public.
• Create greater opportunities for local businesses to grow and prosper.
• Delivery of outstanding public services to improve the quality of life of all our residents and businesses.
• Give a much stronger voice for Somerset on a regional, national and international stage.

One Somerset would replace the existing 5 councils with a single council for Somerset delivering major savings, better value for money, improved local services, increased powers for local communities and a stronger voice for the people of Somerset.

A single council will improve local government and public service delivery across the area by allowing us to join up and deliver local services, creating greater value for money and providing stronger strategic and local leadership with sustainable structures. It would end the artificial and needless administrative boundaries and a single council approach has worked well in other places that have adopted it in recent years.

Moving to a single council for Somerset would generate £52m over five years in savings or £18.5m per annum. That’s just the basic savings – there is then huge scope to transform how the new council will work with millions more to be freed up. That’s a significant amount that could mean, for example, council tax is kept to an absolute minimum and that savings are reinvested into front line services tackling the real local issues and challenges.

The proposal addresses the wider context around promoting economic recovery and growth across the Somerset and contributing to the ‘levelling up’ agenda of creating new opportunities, boosting skills and jobs, and community recovery following the pandemic.

On establishing a single council in Somerset, PwC concluded in an independent report, that: “establishing a single unitary council in Somerset would be more likely to improve local government in the area and would serve a more credible geography – a single unitary would have the advantages of scale, deliver a greater level of financial saving, would cover a recognised geography and serve a population within the range specified by the Secretary of State.” (PwC, report February 2021)

How the Stronger Somerset proposal (2 separate east/west unitary authorities, a separate vehicle for the delivery of Children’s services, a shared services company and a combined authority) would fail this point:

Leading experts have expressed serious concerns around the alternative proposal, Stronger Somerset. This would split Somerset into two small, rival east/west unitaries whilst creating a separate ‘Alternative Delivery Model’ (ADM) for children’s services, a shared services company, and with the elected mayor/combined authority sitting over the top. Stronger Somerset would in effect replace the existing five authorities, each with their own staff and separate cultures, with, five organisations, each with their own staff, budgets and separate cultures. This approach also fails to take into consideration the financial or human cost of the increased complexity of this model.

Not only would this create confusion, but it would also disrupt existing services delivered on a county wide basis (notably care for vulnerable adults and children) whilst each east/west unitary would struggle to be able to exist, serving a population smaller than the figure government believes is a credible entity. This is below the Government’s stated criteria for local government reform around creating sustainable structures.

Independent reports conducted into Stronger Somerset raised concerns around the credibility and veracity of the claims made and of the evidence, financial modelling and data used in developing such proposals.

On Stronger Somerset’s proposals for adult social care, an independent report by Professor John Bolton, a leading expert on social care, comments: “The “Stronger Somerset” report is very misleading about the finances of social care and shows a lack of understanding of the way in which social care has had to operate in recent years.” (Bolton, Review of Stronger Somerset, February 2021)

On Stronger Somerset’s proposals for place services, an independent report by Neil Gibson former President of the Association of the Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning & Transportation (ADEPT) found: “Overall, the proposal is heavy on ambition and method for reform, but light on service delivery detail, evidence and impact. There are no significant references to how existing place services are currently delivered, what will change and how they will be delivered from 2023. There is no clear evidenced rationale in the proposal for their identification, no baseline data/facts underpinning their current status, nor any tangible indications of what better might look like as a consequence of the reforms proposed.” (Gibson, Review of Stronger Somerset, February 2021)

One Stronger Somerset’s proposals for children’s services, and independent report by Trevor Doughty, a Commissioner and advisor to the Department of Education, comments: “No evidence is provided by Stronger Somerset as to why the Alternative Delivery Model (ADM) will deliver its ambitions.” (Doughty, Review of Stronger Somerset Children’s Services Proposal February 2021)

How a single unitary council (One Somerset) would satisfy this point:

Creating one single council would have the distinct advantage of bringing together all local government services in the county, this would enable services to be joined up where previously they were delivered by a district council or the county council. It would bring about economies of scale and efficiencies that could then be reinvested into front line services. It would also mean better local services, that were joined up, more responsive and better able to meet the priorities of local people.

One Somerset would also provide the opportunity to fundamentally enhance local decision-making and move genuine power and responsibility to local communities and their representatives. It would create networks that involve local voluntary and community organisations and put parish and town councils front and centre in their own areas.

In Somerset, there are 278 parish and town councils, which vary greatly in size in the range of activity they undertake. Establishing a new unitary authority would, we believe, be a huge opportunity to look at this relationship and to seek to devolve decision making, services and assets in a way that benefits our communities and both the unitary and local parish and town councils.

This devolution of power and resources to the councils and organisations that are at the real heart of our communities, will provide a focus for local engagement and become the channel for local views, feedback, consultation and communication. Importantly this will have a huge value, not just within the unitary council, but it will also create the opportunity to link up more closely with other local public services, notably the NHS, schools, the voluntary sector and other key partners.

One Somerset would also create the potential for future devolution deals and Mayoral Combined Authorities; delivering simpler structures with high performing, integrated services across the entire system that can then engage as part of a wider Combined Authority. On an operational level, it would make for much easier and simpler working with neighbouring authorities in the creation of effective cross border travel planning and the coordination of economic development activities. In addition, it would also enable the creation of a wider combined authority. One Somerset provides maximum flexibility on this that could evolve to fit the ambitions of the upcoming white paper on local government reform.

How the Stronger Somerset proposal (2 separate unitary authorities in the east/west of the county, a separate vehicle for the delivery of Children’s services, a shared services company and a combined authority) would fail this point:

Independent studies have cast doubt on the Stronger Somerset proposals in respect to the breaking up the county into two small east/west unitarities and creating three other delivery vehicles. The Stronger Somerset proposal would see those services currently delivered on a county wide basis were split up between these untried and untested organisations including care for the elderly and children’s services. This would cause disruption and impact on current service levels whilst also impact on many public sector partners that help deliver such services such as care and health services.

In an assessment of the Stronger Somerset proposal, PwC commented:

“The operating and delivery model proposed in Stronger Somerset would result in duplication of activities and functions across the county. It is not clear how some of the proposals referenced in the document would mitigate this. For example, the inclusion of an alternative delivery model for children’s services within the proposal is not particularly detailed and represents an untested solution in this context (there are parallels with the children’s trust model, but these are typically introduced for other reasons).”

“Stronger Somerset makes relatively little reference to the complications that would be associated with disaggregating the services currently provided by the County Council. This calls into question whether the risks associated with this process have been properly considered and has implications for the deliverability and sustainability of the Stronger Somerset proposals. This issue is also relevant to ‘place services’ delivered by all the impacted councils, and public health (disaggregating public health provision in the current climate has the potential to destabilise the response to the pandemic – Stronger Somerset is not clear on what is intended in this regard). Furthermore, it is not clear what responsibilities in these areas are envisaged as having the potential to be transferred to a combined authority at a future date.”

On creating an outsourced vehicle or Alternative Delivery Model (ADM) for the delivery of children’s services, an independent report by Trevor Doughty concluded:

“Children’s services in Somerset are on an improvement journey and anticipate a good at their next Ofsted inspection. Setting up an ADM is complex, time consuming and resource heavy and risks detracting from the improvement journey. As a model, the creation of an ADM will add to costs because of the presumed necessity to have a board with a chair, probably a separate finance director and other associated support costs. Such costs should be factored into a two unitary proposal. The aspirations for children in Somerset are laudable and would undoubtedly be supported by all local people and stakeholders. The difficulty with the proposal is that it makes huge assumptions as to the outcomes the envisaged ADM will deliver without providing evidence or supporting detail.”

How a single unitary council (One Somerset) would satisfy this point:

The One Somerset proposal for one single council have been designed in conjunction with key partners across the county including health, the blue light services and the business and voluntary and community sectors. Their input has been crucial in developing the single council approach and model. The One Somerset proposal should be considered, therefore, as much a joint public services submission.

One Somerset actively seeks to build on the experience and lessons of partnership working. Never has this been so important that in the last year tackling the pandemic. It is crucial, therefore, that we learn the lessons of the last year. Chief among these has been an overwhelming certainty that public services are better delivered without the sort of artificial or administrative boundaries and silos that has traditionally hampered public service delivery. Residents care not about who delivers their services but that they are delivered efficiently and represent value for money. Staff too simply want to get on with delivering services, collaborating with public sector colleagues, unencumbered by needless constructs.

We are fortunate that One Somerset has been shaped with these experiences in mind and with the input of our key partners including the VCS, health and police, who support this approach.  And with COVID recovery in mind, One Somerset addresses the wider context around promoting economic recovery and growth and has been designed with input from the local business community

Local government is a key partner of the police service in respect to community safety and provides many complementary and joint services including the delivery of regulatory services, but also for example, support to troubled families and to individuals with drug or alcohol issues. In Somerset, much of this work is channelled through the Joint Civil Contingencies Partnership, the Somerset Safeguarding Children Partnership and the Safer Somerset Partnership. Therefore, any changes in local government structures have the potential to have a significant impact on the operational and strategic objectives of the constabulary within the county.

Moving to one single council would significantly simplify the number of partners and lines of reporting that we would need to work with in the delivery of our operational and strategic objectives. It would allow far greater and easier coordination and sharing of resources, intelligence and capacity particularly around regulatory services, achieving greater economies of scale and enhanced collaboration.

A new single council would mean that there would be a greater ability and capacity to tackle climate change and improve Somerset’s natural environment. A unitary authority would be better placed to marshal resources in areas such as control of flooding and coastal management and better able to work with partners such as the Environment Agency.

A single council would be able to provide a better service for those requiring personal and care support. It would create simpler organisational landscape with coterminous health/social care boundaries. Integration with housing and planning services would improve specialist accommodation so that care could be provided for people closer to their homes.

A single council would mean that services could be better integrated with other children’s focussed services including mental health, wellbeing, education and skills. It would also mean closer collaboration with health, schools, police, probation and with those in housing, planning, public transport and infrastructure delivering better opportunities for our young people.

A single council will build a single integrated economic development service that will include the planning department with the capacity to deploy a range of specialist skills compared to generic approaches inherent when spread over five teams. This will create a unique “wrap around” service for businesses including an account management service for large employers

Furthermore, a unitary authority for the entire Somerset will have the capacity to join up all the competing disciplines involved in effective infrastructure. This should lead to improved management of major strategic projects and programmes and simplifying business engagement, especially for regionally significant schemes and easing business planning applications through to the point of determination in a timely manner.

How the Stronger Somerset proposal (2 separate unitary authorities in the east/west of the county, a separate vehicle for the delivery of Children’s services, a shared services company and a combined authority) would fail this point:

Stronger Somerset would introduce an even more complex system by replacing the existing five councils with the five new entities, each with their own priorities, lines of reporting, staff and budgets. This would create a system more difficult and more challenging to be able to work with than the present two-tier council approach and make it particularly challenging for public sector partners.

This five-model approach would end and cause disruption to those services currently delivered at the county level, notably support to the most vulnerable including the safeguarding of children, that the police service has significant day to day contact with. The Stronger Somerset business case also as glaring omissions in regard to services delivered in partnership with other public services. It fails to put forward any proposals around how such a model would deal with community safety or highways.

How a single unitary council (One Somerset) would satisfy this point:

One Somerset commands a good deal of local support from public sector partners, the Police and Crime Commissioner, a majority of local MPs, businesses and our residents. Indeed, our residents overwhelmingly tell us that they wish to end the confusion and duplication of the existing system whilst prioritising services for our most vulnerable. One Somerset would do exactly that.

Already One Somerset has considerable support from key partners including:

Marcus Fysh, MP for Yeovil: “I strongly believe that a single unitary authority to replace the county council and the four district councils in the county is the best option for the future.”

David Warburton, MP for Somerton and Frome: “I’m delighted to give the One Somerset vision my support. A single unitary authority will ensure that local people can engage directly with those making decisions on their behalf and hold them accountable.”

Rebecca Pow, MP for Taunton Deane: “I am a strong supporter of a single council for Somerset because I believe it would bring significant and tangible benefits to residents and businesses across the County. Having one council responsible for all local government services would end the current confusion, waste and duplication of a two-tier system.”

Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner, Sue Mountstevens: “A single council will bring greater clarity to residents who often tell me that there is confusion. A unitary authority will have a much better overview of bringing economic wellbeing to our county.”

How a single unitary council (One Somerset) would satisfy this point:

Moving to one single council for Somerset makes overwhelming sense. A single, strong unitary authority for Somerset would provide singular decision-making, strategic leadership, clear lines of accountability and one voice.

A single authority will provide seamless and accessible local governance on established boundaries to the people of Somerset, with services redesigned to be delivered within communities at a local level. Crucially, it would avoid the costs and disruption of splitting up existing services, so called disaggregation, and build on existing partnerships based on coterminous borders.

On establishing a single council in Somerset, PwC concluded in an independent report, that “establishing a single unitary council in Somerset would be more likely to improve local government in the area and would serve a more credible geography – a single unitary would have the advantages of scale, deliver a greater level of financial saving, would cover a recognised geography and serve a population within the range specified by the Secretary of State. (PwC report February 2021)”

A single council approach has been successfully implemented in recent years including in some of our closest neighbours including Dorset, Wiltshire, Cornwall and Buckinghamshire. Indeed, the advantages of having a single council are clear:

“The benefits of a single council, delivering all of the county and district services should not be underestimated. One council reduces the cost-of-service delivery allowing you to invest more in front-line services, one council gives you a quicker response to business as usual and in an emergency. One council gives a louder, single voice for your area to secure resources and make a difference. One council engaging with Government, making your voice heard.” Cllr Spencer Flower, Leader of Dorset Council (moved to single council in 2019

“It is absolutely clear to me that the creation of the new Buckinghamshire Council was the correct decision by Government and has been a success. It has also strengthened our sense of place creating the ability to provide strong direction and partnership to our colleagues in the NHS, Fire, Police and voluntary sector” Cllr Martin Tett, Leader of Buckinghamshire Council (moved to a single council in 2020)

How the Stronger Somerset proposal (2 separate unitary authorities in the east/west of the county, a separate vehicle for the delivery of Children’s services, a shared services company and a combined authority) would fail this point:

The Stronger Somerset proposal would split Somerset in half, creating two small unitaries, a shared services company, a combined authority and outsourcing children’s services into a separate vehicle. This is the wrong approach.  In replaces the five existing bodies with five new ones, creating a more complex structure than now and does not learn the lessons of the last year such as the need for co-terminosity with health or a unified voice to secure resources for the post COVID economic recovery that One Somerset would deliver.

In an assessment of the Stronger Somerset proposal, PwC commented:

“The way in which the geography of the county is treated within Stronger Somerset does not make a particularly compelling case for establishing two new councils. Current population levels for the two unitaries proposed are below the range indicated by the Secretary of State and local data suggests there could be an imbalance across the proposed councils for the East and the West in terms of demand for services and income. This would call into question the financial sustainability of the two councils.”

We’ve made the following 10 pledges that One Somerset would deliver and as we move to a new council over the next 2 years:

1. No disruption to local services as local government changes in Somerset, and a promise to keep residents fully informed.
2. Protecting front-line staff working with vulnerable people across the county.
3. Council tax will not increase because of moving to a single unitary council.
4. Physical, face-to-face council contact points across the county.
5. One telephone number and one website to access ALL council services.
6. Improved services for vulnerable residents including housing, adults’ & children’s services.
7. Improved services for children and young people, including education, training, jobs and transport.
8. More local decision making by town and parish councils and new local community networks.
9. Closer relationships with partners including the NHS, police, education, and the voluntary sector to deliver better services.
10. And finally, not splitting Somerset in half, dividing communities, losing our proud identity, or weakening our standing on a local, regional and national level.