MP Ian Liddell-Grainger is seeking an urgent meeting with ministers after the Government’s refusal to allow Somerset Council to increase its share of council tax by 10 per cent.
The Bridgwater and West Somerset MP will also meet council leader Bill Revans next week to discuss the next stages in extricating the council from its financial crisis.
Councillors had asked for permission to go above a five per cent cap as a step towards getting the unitary authority’s finances back on track, but that has been denied.
The government says it wants to protect local taxpayers from excessive council tax increases and local authorities should consider the way general increases in the cost of living have already impacted households.
Mr Liddell-Grainger said he was disappointed, though not completely surprised by the announcement.
“I know the Government wants to do whatever it can to ease financial pressures on families, but on the other hand it still expects local authorities to continue providing services - and the cost of doing so has risen horrifically,” he said.
“This announcement really has narrowed the council’s options for reducing its budget deficit and it’s going to increase the likelihood of some really savage cuts in service provision which will affect everyone in the county.
“The council has already had to make some harsh decisions, such as declaring as many as 1,000 redundancies. But with its ability to raise income so restricted it is difficult to see how it can continue functioning in a number of key areas.
“I shall be doing whatever I can to bring home to the Government Somerset Council’s particular problems in running a largely rural and sparsely-populated county. That it costs more to provide such services to rural areas has been a recognised fact for a very long time and I shall be urging the Government to take factors such as this into account.”
