Merger talk is ‘a bid for our money’
A senior councillor has rubbished suggestions of joining a new super authority saying: “I wouldn’t touch it with a 40-foot barge pole.” Councillor Chris Dando criticised proposals that would see Bath and North East Somerset Council rejoining its old county colleagues in the new authority. The B&NES representative for Radstock previously sat on Avon County Council when it was disbanded and said he knows from experience shake-ups can cause more problems than they solve. Councillor Dando claimed Somerset County Council was only looking to its wealthier neighbours to the north to help prop it up – but what’s really needed is more government funding. “I’ve been doing this 20-plus years,” said the one-time Labour group leader. “There have been a number of changes, and they’ve not all been positive. “The cuts to local government have left a lot of local authorities that were in financial difficulty in a much worse situation. “Northamptonshire County Council has effectively gone bankrupt. A lot of councils are sending smoke signals saying they are close to that. Somerset County Council needs money quickly. It is looking at other authorities with assets.” He said there is a “growing crisis” in social care as it faces increasing costs and swelling demand from an ageing population, but it is not a budget that can be capped. Councillor Dando said: “Somerset is in trouble. They’ve broadly spent all the reserves they can. They are looking at how they can make savings by getting bigger to spread their costs. “They could scrap all the district councils and bring them under Somerset County Council, or you could split it up into three units. They look at B&NES Council and North Somerset Council because they have some money. I wouldn’t touch it with a 40-foot barge pole. “There’s no harm in thinking about what a merger would look like, but it has to be done for the right reasons. Local authorities have to be based on where people relate to – where do they work? Where do they do their shopping?” He said Bath and North East Somerset residents have more of a connection to Wiltshire, Bristol and South Gloucestershire, and even physically getting to parts of Somerset is difficult on public transport. Wells MP James Heappey suggested B&NES Council should merge with its neighbours in the Mendips but Councillor Dando disagreed, because a lot of people never travel there. “If you’re going to do local government properly it has to connect to people in a way that makes a difference to them,” he said. As well as saying B&NES Council and Mendips should join forces, Mr Heappey suggested a merger between Sedgemoor and North Somerset, and that the southern part of the county should come together as another authority. Councillor Dando argued that it makes more sense for B&NES Council to merge with another West of England authority – Bristol, South Gloucestershire or North Somerset. But he added: “The 600lb gorilla is government funding. No amount of amalgamation will make the savings we need to meet increased demand. “It was a mistake to break up Avon County Council. It would be a mistake of equal measure to reorganise Somerset without thinking of the consequences.” B&NES Council leader Councillor Tim Warren said he would be open to a merger with another authority – but only if it is in the interests of residents. He rejected the idea it could be “swallowed” into a single body for Somerset.