£60 on every Somerset council tax bill 'pays for Lib Dem borrowing'

HIGH-spending Somerset County Council was today criticised for locking itself into uncompetitive borrowing rates for years to come - just as the Bank of England cut rates to their lowest ever level.
The Liberal Democrat-run county has long-term high interest rates on more than £300 million which it has borrowed to fund its spending spree in recent years.
The average rate was about 4.3 per cent - which previously looked good, but not with a base rate now down to just one per cent.
Conservative group finance spokesman Councillor David Huxtable (pictured) said the council could now borrow at rates of less than one per cent.
Councillor Huxtable said: “We have been warning the Lib Dem administration about their huge borrowing and now it has come back to bite them.
“The difference in rates could mean the council paying up to £11 million over the odds this year alone.
“This would put an extra £60 on the council tax for every hard working family in Somerset.”
Somerset Conservative group leader Councillor Ken Maddock said: “The Lib Dems have slipped up big time here.
“They have trebled borrowing in the last six years. Who do they think they are - Gordon Brown?
“We need to act like a responsible council - not like a dodgy hedge fund.
“The Conservatives would reduce Somerset’s dependence on debt and borrow less.
“This is as important to a county council as it is to everybody’s personal finances.”

LETTER: MP criticism of county council 'is political strategy'

Dear Editor - I found your front page report on Ian Liddell-Grainger’s views (£74m venture, The Post April 24) where he implies by implication that the county council is being profligate with ratepayers’ money, very much part of a pattern; perhaps even what passes for a strategy of his.
He appears to be trying to undermine ratepayers’ confidence in the county council’s ability to manage the funds with which they are entrusted.
I am unsure why he has chosen this particular avenue of attack unless it is to associate the county council with the financial catastrophe that was the Conservative-run West Somerset District Council.
I think most people can spot the difference.
It is particularly ironic because during the entire, disgraceful period of the mismanagement of funds and priorities by the Tory-led district council, I cannot recall a single printed criticism by Ian Liddell-Grainger of the district council’s performance.
Had he done so, the outcome might have been very different.
The award-winning and innovative financial team at SCC belongs to all of us and has been independently audited as being a lynch pin of one of the top performing local authorities in the entire country.
I am all for constructive criticism by our Member of Parliament, but let us not begrudge success for political reasons.
Ian Galloway
Somerset county Councillor (Minehead ward)
Glenmore Road
Minehead

Now, it's 'fat cat' council pensions in the watchdog's spotlight

PENSIONS for local council staff are costing every West Somerset resident a total of £62, a startling new report by local authority watchdogs the Taxpayers’ Alliance has revealed.
Information obtained by the alliance using the Freedom of Information Act shows Somerset County Council increased the money it spent on pensions for staff from £20.64 million in 2005-06 to £24.332 million in 2006-07 - a huge 17.9 per hike in just one year.
The Liberal Democrat-run county’s pensions bill alone was £47 for each person in West Somerset.
On top of this, each resident was forking out another £15 for pensions at cash-crisis West Somerset Council, although its spend actually fell by 13.5 per cent from £615,000 in 2005-06 to £532,000 in 2006-07.
The news comes just two months after The Post reported a Taxpayers’ Alliance investigation which showed the number of County Hall ‘fat cat’ officers earning more than £50,000 a year had skyrocketed by 1,200 per cent from just nine in 1997 to a staggering 111 by last year – costing each West Somerset resident £13.64.
The cost of pensions at neighbouring Taunton Deane Borough Council rose by a huge 46.6 per cent from £1.66 million in 2005-06 to £2,434 million in 2006-07, which amounted to £23 per person.
Sedgemoor District Council increased its pensions funding by 23.2 per cent from £1.6 million to £1.973 million between 2005-06/07, costing each resident £18.
Nationally, the average council now spends more than £10 million on employer pension payments - a 13 per cent increase on the average amount spent in 2005-06.
In 2006-07, local authorities across the country spent a total of £4.6 billion on employer contributions to the Local Government Pension Scheme and unfunded payments and added years benefits to local government employees, teachers and fire
Fighters - representing 21 per cent of council tax revenue or £1 in every £5 of council tax.
TaxPayers’ Alliance chairman Andrew Allum said: “It is unacceptable that ordinary families and pensioners who struggle to pay inflated council tax bills see so much of their money spent on gold-plated council pensions that have all but disappeared in the wider economy.
“With pension costs jumping 13 per cent in one year, the problem is clearly getting worse and requires urgent attention.
“Councils should start correcting their own behaviour immediately, and the Government must face down union pressure and reform the outdated local government pensions scheme as soon as possible.”
Mr Allum said urgent reform of public sector pensions was ‘clearly essential’ in order to reduce the bill to taxpayers, free up money for services, and avoid a serious crisis in public sector pension funding in the future.
He said at present many councils added extra years to an officer’s pension to allow them to retire early.
“In other words, it is possible for certain council employees to retire at age 55 and immediately draw on a pension as if they had retired at age 60,” he said.
Mr Allum said added years benefits was a practice which should cease immediately.
He said at the same time as increasing their spending on pensions for staff, many local authorities were raising council tax and at the same time cutting services such as rubbish collections or care for the elderly.
Local Government Association deputy chief executive John Ransford said: “The TaxPayers’ Alliance appears to be condemning lollipop ladies, bin men, street cleaners, and librarians for getting a pension worthy of the years of service they have given helping local people.
“Councils provide more than 800 different services for local residents and these cannot be delivered by robots or machines.
“The Local Government Pension Scheme recently underwent a radical overhaul, which provides greater value for money to the taxpayer while at the same time recognising the invaluable work that council staff do to make the lives of local people better.
“According to the Treasury, councils are the most efficient and effective part of the public sector, and the independent Audit Commission has recently said that councils are delivering better services than ever before.”

Under-fire Conservatives step down in council financial row

THE leader and deputy leader of the minority Conservative group on West Somerset Council are quitting their political positions amid a row over the authority’s financial crisis.
The Conservatives lost control of the council in last May’s elections when Independent candidates backed by the Liberal Democrat-founded pressure group Direct won more seats.
Since then, Conservative leader Councillor Christine Lawrence (pictured, right) and her deputy Councillor Roger Webber (pictured, below) have been accused of allowing council finances to spiral out of control.
It resulted in both the council’s chief executive Tim Howes and deputy chief executive Rod Latham receiving huge pay-offs from the new Independent administration to leave their jobs, which plunged the authority further into the fiscal mire.
Council leader Councillor Keith Ross was forced also to abandon the much-vaunted New Horizons healthplex scheme in Minehead because there was no money in the kitty to fund the district’s share of the costs – even though work had already started.
New Horizons, which was a partnership with Somerset County Council, Somerset Primary Care Trust, and the West Somerset Community College, included a modern replacement for Minehead Hospital – and now the PCT has been unable to guarantee that it will still be delivered.
The council’s deputy leader, Councillor Simon Stokes (Labour) later called on Councillors Lawrence and Webber, who was the finance portfolio holder until May, to accept their share of responsibility for the crisis and to resign.
Now, former headmaster and chief executive Councillor Tim Taylor, who was elected in May to represent Crowcombe and Stogumber, is to succeed as Conservative group on February 1.
Both Councillors Lawrence and Webber will continue as district councillors.
Councillor Lawrence, who is also a Somerset county councillor for Dunster, said: “I have enjoyed serving the community and I am proud of the projects we were able to deliver during my term, especially the groundwork for the new hospital.”
She said she wanted to devote more time to resolving issues in her Minehead north ward and to her responsibilities as a county councillor.
Councillor Lawrence said she originally intended to hand over to somebody else after the council’s annual meeting ion May, but thought it sensible to allow a new team to be put in place beforehand.
Councillor Taylor said: “West Somerset owes them an enormous debt of gratitude and I am sure this will become more obvious over time.”

Crisis council brings in management troubleshooter

A TEMPORARY chief executive costing nearly £3,500 a week has been appointed by West Somerset Council to steer it through a financial crisis.
Management consultant Dr Jack Neal, aged 60, has been brought in to run the council for the next few months while it grapples with staffing and funding shortages.
His £30,000 fee, however, is likely to be fully met by Lift South West, an agency set up to support councils and promote excellence in local government.
Dr Neal, who lives near Honiton, Devon, was chief executive of Caradon District Council, in Cornwall, for 10 years until 2002, where he experienced many of the issues now facing West Somerset.
Since then, he has worked all over the country as a troubleshooter taking temporary charge of councils in crises and guiding them through their problems.
He has had short spells running Erewash Borough Council, Lincolnshire County Council, and Richmondshire District Council, and provided training and consultancy to Plymouth City Council, Castle Morpeth Borough Council, Gloucestershire County Council, and Dorset Fire and Rescue Service.
Dr Neal said: “I am looking forward to working with the staff and councillors at West Somerset Council.
“We have a joint aim, which is to stabilise the council and to establish the best way forward to ensure more effective service delivery.
“I believe passionately in teamwork and think that by working together, staff and councillors can meet the challenges ahead positively and secure a better future for services and people in West Somerset.”
The council’s acting chief executive, Adrian Dyer, said: “We are delighted to have Jack’s skills and experience on board.
“His strong focus on team work will help us stabilise the council and drive forward improvements to meet the district’s longer term needs.
“Essentially, the majority of the council’s services are good which is down to our hard-working and loyal staff.
“However, we accept that we need to change in order to bring effective improvements across all services.
“We are enthusiastic about working with Jack, councillors, and partners to find a positive way forward for the authority for the benefit of the whole district.”
Beleagured council leader Councillor Keith Ross, who is facing a rebellion within the ranks of the controlling Independent group, is hoping Dr Neal will embed a new way of working ‘with an emphasis on leadership, teamwork, trust, and respect’.
It will include facilitating a review of how the council is organised internally with a view to ensuring that capacity and accountability are aligned to deliver on the council's corporate priorities.
Work will be undertaken to refine and focus the council’s short-term improvement programme, with particular emphasis on financial standing and performance management.
Consideration will also be given to finding the most suitable longer-term plan for a more integrated service delivery model across Somerset, which could include letting Sedgemoor District Council and Somerset County Council take on some services.