Somerset Council
Council Tax Decision Explained
Somerset Council Leader Bill Revans has reiterated calls for expedited reform of local government funding by the Government, as councillors voted on a balanced budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year during the Full Council meeting on March 5th. As part of the budget proposal, the Government has authorised Somerset Council to increase Council Tax by…
Read MoreDistress with Dentistry in Somerset – we can’t fix this crisis alone say NHS Somerset
Dentistry in Somerset is currently facing a crisis, as reported by NHS Somerset, a part of the Somerset Integrated Care Board (ICB), which is responsible for planning and delivering local health services. In a stark warning delivered to Somerset Council’s Adults and Health (Feb 27th, 2025) Committee, NHS Somerset said, “the gap between patient needs…
Read More“Because sometimes you have to do something bad to do something good.” Oscar Wilde
Yesterday, Somerset Council held a Full Council meeting, which I attended as the Unitary Councillor representing the Mendip South division. This meeting is a critical step in the budget-setting process scheduled for March. In an urgent effort to balance the books, we voted to transform the Council’s workforce, which will involve a reduction of around…
Read MoreDoes Somerset Need a Dry January?
Somerset is home to an estimated 5,202 individuals who are alcohol-dependent, with approximately 80% (around 4,000) having unmet treatment needs. While we should approach this figure with caution, national trends suggest it may actually be an underestimate. Alarmingly, alcohol-related hospital admissions in Somerset are higher than the national average, particularly among women under 40. One…
Read MoreA371 road safety planned works update
Road safety at The Pecking Mill corner has been a cause of concern for local people for a long time. Lib Dem Somerset Councillor Claire Sully made it a priority to investigate the issues to find solutions. Claire has met with local residents, consulted with Avon and Somerset Police, organised road monitoring, liaised with Somerset…
Read MoreMendip South councillor report for August
Somerset Council disposal of assets in response to financial emergency Somerset Council has authorised the sale of non-operational assets, with a combined value of between £17m and £21m. A report recommending the disposal of several Somerset Council assets to help generate funds in response to the financial emergency was considered and approved by Somerset Exec…
Read MoreSuicide Prevention Work in Somerset Update
When I joined Somerset Council’s Adults and Health Scrutiny Committee, in 2022, I asked that suicide prevention was added to the work programme. Last week we had an update on a new (draft) Somerset suicide prevention strategy that is supporting a new national strategy, which was launched September last year. The draft strategy draws on…
Read MoreClaire’s mission to support Somerset cancer treatment fundraising
Claire Sully, MP candidate for the new Bridgwater constituency, has made it one of her missions to support fundraising for cancer treatments for Somerset residents. A chance meeting with a local charity fundraiser showed Claire how important access to local care is for cancer sufferers. Claire met Gail Wills, a fundraiser for cancer charity S.U.R.E., when she…
Read MoreA Priority for the Lib Dems in Somerset: A Greener, More Sustainable Somerset
Climate change is the starkest challenge of our, and the next generation’s, lifetimes. The implementation of our change to combat the climate emergency has to be now and it needs to be profound. This Liberal Democrat-run council has led the way on the climate emergency, which is something we can all be proud of. But there is…
Read MoreWelcome plans for a new leisure centre on Gravity site for locals
Claire Sully, the Liberal Democrat candidate for the new Bridgwater constituency, has welcomed the decision that a new publicly-available leisure centre will be built on the Gravity Smart Campus site near Puriton in 2025. The development follows an announcement in February that Agratas, a subsidiary company of Tata, would inject £4 billion into the site…
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