SOMERSET MPs joined forces on Tuesday (January 13) to call for better funding for the county in a bid to avoid another huge rise in council tax.

The representatives met with Local Government Minister Alison McGovern (Lab, Birkenhead) to call for extra funding to prevent a possible 11% increase for the Somerset Council area.

The Minister told the county MPs she would consider their proposals and respond as soon as possible.

Lib Dem MPs Gideon Amos (Taunton and Wellington), Adam Dance (Yeovil), Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton), Rachel Gilmour (Tiverton and Minehead) and Anna Sabine (Frome and East Somerset) also represented their colleague, Tessa Munt, and Conservative Ashley Fox (Bridgwater) at the meeting.

Previously, the Lib Dems wrote to the Minister, describing the government’s provisional funding settlement for Somerset as “profoundly disappointing”.

And the five Liberal Democrat MPs issued a joint a statement after the meeting, which said: “The provisional financial settlement for Somerset is a Labour government bombshell in which they look set to force an 11% council tax increase on to Somerset residents – Somerset Lib Dem MPs are fighting against this kind of unaffordable increase.

“This proposal from the government has led to council tax payers feeling even more anxious in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.

“They should not be made to suffer further after what auditors have said were the ‘poor decisions’ of previous Conservative-led administration and their woeful mismanagement of Somerset County Council finances.

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“Speaking to the Minister, Somerset MPs we were crystal clear that the proposed increases would be far too much for residents to be expected to pay and that we strongly oppose it.

“We called on the Minister to increase the level of government funding to ensure any council tax rise would be far more modest.

“We highlighted that, as the fifth biggest council by land area in the country, Somerset suffers massively from the removal of remoteness uplift which recognised the additional costs of providing services in sparsely populated areas like Somerset.

“We also called for the £11 million lost due to Business Rates reform to be refunded and highlighted the reduced public health budget leading to greater strain on care provision.”

They said the meeting had been “constructive”, with the Minister listening to their concerns and inviting them to “submit more information including on the costs of health and care”.

However, they said they “remain concerned that Labour does not properly understand the strain rural communities are under”.

“They must now acknowledge the impact their changes are having on Somerset and the pressures of delivering vital frontline services across our predominantly rural county,” the MPs added.

“We will be taking up the offer of a further meeting with officials as soon as possible and will continue to press home the need for higher year on year funding from central government for Somerset.

“It should not be for council taxpayers in Somerset to bail out a failing government care funding system.”

Minister Alison McGovern met with the Somerset MPs. Picture: UK Parliament

In Somerset, they said, two out of every three pounds of council tax paid is spent on care for vulnerable adults and children, which are required by law.

“But the increasing numbers coming forward are placing additional costs of care services on the authority next year, a shortfall the government has failed to fund,” they added.

“Our Somerset councillor colleagues inherited what the previous Conservative council leader called a ‘ticking timebomb’ in the cost of care.

“The council has already made deep cuts, with over 700 jobs going this year, it’s now between a rock and hard place – it is being asked to deliver increased care on reduced funding.

“As MPs we will continue pushing hard for central Government to step up with the additional support our county needs.

“We are campaigning on behalf of local taxpayers to increase Somerset’s funding settlement to cover services central Government requires the council to deliver on its behalf.”

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Mr Fox, the only Conservative MP in the group, said after the meeting: “It is my job to get the best financial settlement for my constituents, so I was happy to meet with the minister and argue with Liberal Democrat MPs that Somerset deserves a better deal. But I also have to tell you that Somerset does not manage our money well.”

He said the meeting was an opportunity to raise specific challenges facing Somerset, including rural service delivery and pressures, but stressed funding alone does not explain the council’s financial position.

“So while I’ll always try and get the best deal for my constituents, I have to say to the Liberal Democrats who are trying to run Somerset Council, they’re not doing a very good job and they’re not looking after our money,” he said.

“There’s an awful lot of bad administration for which the Liberal Democrats are responsible.”

Summing up his position, he added: “So yes, of course I’ll go to the government and say Somerset needs a better deal. But at the same time I’m going to turn to those councillors running the council and say you really should stop wasting our money and do a better job.”