Politics

Council: will bigger really be better?

I spent election day as a teller outside a Somerset polling station.

I was lucky to have the sunshine and a vista of increasingly green and rolling hills.

A peaceful scene, interrupted by the odd helicopter out of Yeovilton and a voter or two.

I was struck by the determination of the many older and more fragile folk bent on doing their civic duty. I was struck, too, by how few of the younger generation there seemed to be but perhaps they got smart and voted by post.

It seems a pity that postal voting is becoming so much more the norm. It does detract from the sense of theatre and impending melodrama which polling stations seem to engender.

The results were truly dramatic as we all now know. The teams working across the county are to be congratulated. Personally, I have rarely worked with such a capable, dedicated and

Mike Chapman on behalf of Liberal Democrats across the Blackmore Vale

hard-working crew.

Telling is always an opportunity for some conversations and here was no exception.

Many people’s views were drawn down from their perceptions of national, even international issues – the economy, the return of stagflation – signalled by the Bank of England’s forecast of an economic downturn at the same time as it raised interest rates – and our national reputation. The predominant local concerns were about the formation of the new Unitary Council in Somerset – will it make local government feel further away and will the inevitable cost savings come at the expense of services?

This part of the world already feels it is on the edge of many services, be it access to primary healthcare, the distance to a hospital, the availability of social care or the response times of ambulances.

There is a worry that ‘bigger is better’ is just an assumption not a fact while real evidence exists that larger councils create more distanced councillors, more scope for party politics and a general reduction in public engagement.

Outside the UK, multilevel local government is the prevailing system, with major towns normally having a local authority.

A recent LSE report suggests the average local authority in England serves 170,000 people, three times the average across Europe. Somerset Council will be serving more than half a million people.

Somerset has the opportunity now with a strong new county-wide team under Lib Dem leadership to tackle the big and challenging areas of change such as social care, water quality and the response to climate change.

Other important themes include a joined-up planning system working in tune with communities, highway and transport improvements, addressing rural isolation and incentives for modern, forward-looking business investment.

The new authority also has that task of breaking the mould by delivering the benefits of scale while still feeling local and accessible, driven by local need not central diktat.

A tough call but success in this endeavour would deliver a strong message to Dorset. I do like a nice bit of Domino Theory.

Victory for the Lib-Dems in elections to new unitary authority

By late afternoon on 6 May it became clear the Liberal Democrats had swept the board in the election for the new Somerset Council.

The council will become the new unitary local authority, taking over from the county council and five district councils which manage services today.

A total of 337 candidates fought for 110 seats across the county.

The Liberal Democrats won 61 seats out of that total, a majority over all other parties of 12.

The Conservatives won 36 seats, while Labour and the Green Party have five seats each. Three independents make up the total.

Somerset County Council has been Conservativecontrolled since 2009.

Until the new unitary council is formed at the start of April next year, the Liberal Democrats will run the county council.

The new unitary authority will then replace the county and five district councils for a further four-year term.

The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Ed Davey, visited Taunton on the day of the count to congratulate the newly elected Liberal Democrat team.