Somerset Council seeks to cut its wage bill by £40m

The council is embarking upon a radical transformation programme, which is designed to streamline the delivery of its services and generate significant savings for Somerset taxpayers.

The council launched a voluntary redundancy programme, which will close on March 24, in a bid to reduce a hefty bill from compulsory redundancy payments.

Decisions on which staff which lose their jobs will be taken towards the end of April, with the council hoping the reduction in staff will help avoid a  budget gap of more than £137m by early-2027.

The full council voted in May 2023 to approve redundancy payments of around £5.2m for a total of 29 senior officers – with the promise that the savings generated from a reduction in posts would be repaid within two years.

The transformation programme was debated at length by the council’s corporate and resource scrutiny committee when it met in Taunton on Thursday morning (March 7).

The programme, which will run over a 12-month period, is intended to compliment other efforts to streamline the council’s operation, including the sale of unwanted land, property and assets.

Around 20 per cent of the current workforce will be exempt from the transformation programme, including planning officers and other departments which already relate on agency workers or locum staff.

There will be “robust recruitment controls” put in place to prevent any rise in spending on agency staff and external consultants during the transition process.

The cost of redundancy payments will be met in part through the sale of council assets, with the council seeking permission from the government to use capital receipts to fund day-to-day spending (known as a capitalisation directive).

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) announced in late-February that it would support in principle the council using up to £76,9m using this directive – though final confirmation has not yet been received.

Councillor Simon Coles (who represents the Taunton East division) warned that the cost and extent of transformation could quickly get out of hand, citing his own experience following the creation of Somerset West and Taunton Council in April 2019.

The district council – formed from the merger of Taunton Deane Borough Council and West Somerset Council – ended up spending more than £5.6m on redundancies, including that of its chief executive Penny James.

Mr Coles said: “I’ve still got the scars from a previous voluntary redundancy programme, which went over budget by a factor of four or thereabouts.

“We need to keep tight controls on that and ensure we keep the qualified staff who provide vital services to the public.

“I’ve seen a voluntary redundancy scheme run way with itself and create a whole series of problems.

“We evidently cannot continue as we are, but we need to be sure the people we are encouraging into the new roles are the correct people.”

A panel will be put in place to determine whether it is appropriate for a given individual to take voluntary redundancy, with the executive having final oversight of these decisions.

Councillor Sue Osborne (Ilminster) warned that a similar transformation programme at South Somerset District Council had led to a sharp drop in the standard of services being provided.

She said: “At South Somerset we did create an agile workforce, and that came into its own when covid broke and we got support out with fast speed.

“But at  the coalface our customer service went town – it took far too long for people to answer the phone, and benefit claim processing times went through the roof.

“Our planning department went from being one of the best in the country to one of the worst in terms of delays and getting things done.

“You’re looking at making a lot of people redundant very quickly – but the programme is due to take three years. You could end up with a real hole in the bucket here.”

Councillor Dave Mansell (Upper Tone) lambasted both the transformation programme and the government’s decision to not allow the council to raise council tax by ten per cent in the recently-approved budget – which would have brought its council tax take in line with neighbouring local authorities.

He said: “The big question is: will it work, what will it deliver and what will we have left? I’ve had no reassurance at all on this.

“It’s being led by the wrong reasons. It’s being led by the need to make massive savings – no-one’s denying it, and that is the wrong driver.

“We’re looking to cut 1,000 to 1,500 jobs and further reduce services. We’ve got staff who are already overstretched and struggling to deliver existing services.

“We are in an impossible position, and I don’t think this is a credible solution. I think this will break the council.

“Our council tax is too low, and the government has denied us an opportunity to raise it – what are they thinking of? They’ve dug a hole for us and they won’t help us get out of it.

“The only way to raise council tax further is to issue a Section 114 notice. We’re hanging on trying not to deliver this notice – but are we doing more damage by not going down this route?”

A Section 114 notice is an admission of effective bankruptcy, and is issued when a council cannot deliver a balanced budget to cover statutory services.

Once such a notice has been issued, the council has 21 days to set an emergency budget – during which time it cannot announce any new spending.

If it cannot agree a plan, the government will send in unelected, expensive commissioners to come in and dictate what has to be sold off or cut to balance the books.

Councillor Theo Butt Philip, portfolio holder for transformation and human resources, warned that issuing such a notice would not prevent the need for any kind of transformation programme and would not stop job losses.

Mr Butt Philip (who represents the Wells division) said: “Bringing in a Section 114 may lead to the ability to increase council tax. What it would not do is to take away the need for what we have in front of us today.

“If we had raised council tax by ten per cent, we’d still need to do this to close the budget gap. I really don’t see Section 114 as a more palatable solution.”

Councillor Ros Wyke, portfolio holder for economic development, planning and assets, added: “We have led the charge in being very open about our finances and we need to adapt.

“Transformation is not about survival, but about the long-term thinking of local government, and that’s a challenge for all of us who have been involved for some time.”

As part of the budget-setting process, numerous services have been devolved to town and parish councils, such as the maintenance of public open spaces, public toilets and local recreation facilities.

Further services could be devolved to town and parishes in the coming years, with the council currently looking to bring street and toilet cleaning contracts in house with a view to devolving them out to towns and parishes in the future.

Councillor Brian Smedley (Bridgwater South) said that increasing the scale and pace of devolution was essential to prevent damage to statutory services.

He said: “I don’t thin there’s just a choice between ‘here’s a shovel, dig your own grave’ or ‘bring in some blokes with expensive shovels to do it for you’.

“It comes down to who is best placed to deliver these services. I don’t think the devolution package has gone fast and far enough.”

Further details of the transformation programme will be published and debated in the coming months.