DISTRICT councillors have declared a ‘cost of living emergency’ and are calling on the Government to take action such as cutting VAT and fuel duty tax.

A motion by executive Cllr Chris Booth was passed at a meeting on Tuesday (July 5) which also endorsed a local ‘cost of living emergency summit’ to be led by council leader Cllr Federica Smith-Roberts.

It made Somerset West and Taunton Council only the third local authority in the country to declare such an emergency.

The Liberal Democrat-controlled council has also previously declared a ‘climate emergency’ and an ‘ecology emergency’.

Cllr Booth said: “It is so worrying right now to see our fuel and our food prices go up so quickly and contentiously.

“I want to bring local groups and organisations together who are the coalface of this growing crisis with our MPs, so they can relay the feedback to our Government and hopefully ensure further action is taken to protect our residents.”

He also complained about the unfairness of Exmoor National Park fuel retailers in Devon being able to claim rural duty relief but those living on the Somerset side of the county border not being eligible to do so.

The council will now ask Work and Pensions Secretary Thérèse Coffey to cut VAT to 17.5 per cent for 12 months, re-introduce the pensions ‘triple-lock’ , and restore the £20 Universal Credit supplement.

It will also demand Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng makes a further fuel duty cut in rural areas and the Government to move faster on cross-Party desires to uncouple power prices from gas prices before they increased further in October.

But opposition Conservative group leader Cllr Roger Habgood, whose councillors abstained in the vote, criticised the move as a ‘Party political gesture’.

Cllr Habgood said: “We recognise people are facing cost of living issues at the moment which is a serious matter and not one for the district council to be playing national Party politics with.

“This declaration is going to make absolutely no difference whatsoever.

“The council should be focussing on providing people with the best possible services instead of trying to score political points.”