SOMERSET Council cuts will not see it escape bankruptcy, one of its councillors has warned.

Councillor Dave Mansell, the leader of the Green Party Group on Somerset Council, has said that the agreed savings measures and tax hikes would only “buy time” in a slide toward defaulting.

Commenting following an eight-hour budget meeting in which “heart-breaking” cuts and tax rises were agreed upon, Cllr Mansell said: “Unwelcome savings only close part of the council’s £100m budget gap. This gap is still growing and next year most of the gap is being closed by one-off contributions of £74m from reserves and capitalisation. All this will do is buy time. 

“The real plan to close the gap is a massive transformation programme with further cuts to important services and more than 1,000 job losses from the council workforce. 

“I am very concerned about this transformation, which was reflected in our amendment that was passed as part of the budget. Many council services, such as highways, buses and social care, are over-stretched already and should not be cut further.

“There will now be a thorough review of the transformation case at the next Corporate and Resources Scrutiny Committee on March 7, with urgent feedback then given to the Executive. 

“The government has refused to help Somerset by allowing a small addition to Council Tax. Currently, Council Tax in Somerset is capped by government at a level below most other similar councils, so that Somerset services are under-funded while costs of social care have increased rapidly. This is at the heart of the financial crisis faced by Somerset Council.

“The causes of the crisis need to be addressed. As the government is not giving the council the means to do so, it looks likely that Somerset Council will soon need to issue a 114 notice to declare effective bankruptcy, possibly before the summer”.