THE most senior members of Somerset County Council are now debating a series of massive cuts to jobs and public services - in front of 200 people who oppose them.

The protesters have crammed into the Conference Centre, Somerset College, Taunton, for a meeting expected to last untill about 3pm.

About 40 speakers from the public benches have been lined up to address the meeting, where security was tight but polite.

Cllr Ken Maddock, leader of the Conservative-ru authority said last week: "We have spent months looking at how we can be more efficient, and where we can cut but also how we can protect frontline services wherever possible.”

The two main items to be discussed centre on jobs and services.

The council is losing up to 1,500 of its 6,500 staff with 700 of them due to be gone by April 2011.

Services to be cut as part of the £multi-million cost saving measures include:

  • Halfing the roads budgte
  • Closing eight of the county's recycling centres
  • Pulling all arts funding
  • Cutting 10 of the 11 SCC-funded Police Community Support Officers.
  • Cutting the youth services budget from £12m to £3m
  • Reducing truancy patrols
  • Reducing road safety projects
  • Cutting library service For more details from the meeting, as they emerge, keep reading this website.

Any decision by the Cabinet today will have to be approved by the full council on November 10.

Somerset College is only hosting the meeting and is not directly linked to the Somerset County Council cuts.