BRIDGWATER’S MP has slammed plans to make swinging cuts to services across the county.

Ian Liddell-Grainger called Somerset County Council’s (SCC) proposed cuts a ‘gigantic confidence trick is being played on the people of Somerset’.

Support for young carers, gritting services, the Citzens Advice Bureau (CAB) and youth services in Somerset look set to face huge losses.

The details of a range of proposed savings have been revealed by SCC ahead of a vote in which councillors will consider around £28m of money-saving proposals.

An SCC spokesman described the savings plan as “a decisive step to secure its long-term financial sustainability”, while the leader of the council, David Fothergill, said the plans come as the authority faced the ‘very sharp end’ of austerity.

But Conservative Mr Liddell-Grainger said: “The leader, Cllr Fothergill, claims another dose of severe cuts is essential because Government grants have been drastically reduced.

“Yet he is also trying to force the Government to create a giant Unitary Authority which would swallow up all the District councils.

"Mr Fothergill seems to want to have his cake and eat it.

“Those of us who pay council tax are entitled to ask, what on earth is going on.”

Mr Liddell-Grainger also described SCC’s central management ‘as an object lesson in waste’ and launched a scathing attack on the council chief executive Pat Flaherty saying 'he might well be invisible'.

Mr Liddell-Grainger continued: "Somerset County Council has been teetering on the brink for a decade.

"After the financial crash Government grants were cut back hard. Successive council leaders made expensive errors.

"The creation of South West One, for example, promised to save the council hundreds of millions of pounds. In fact, it cost Somerset £70 million and was a total disaster.

"It is true that national austerity has bitten far too deep into council budgets.

"There is now a good case to ease up and spend more. But, another part of the problem is the mindset of local government.

"Councils have always been in business to provide services, not to make profits. They are (with a few honourable exceptions like Sedgemoor District Council) somewhat naïve when it comes to saving cash.

"Too often senior officers are unable to take big decisions unless consultants tell them what they want to hear first. All of which adds extra cost.

"In my view many of the top people at County Hall do not warrant their pay or their perks.

"I am equally concerned about the lack of effective political leadership. financial crises at County Hall follow one another with frightening regularity and the politicians always express the same wide-eyed surprise.

"David Fothergill should have seen all this coming. Now he has managed to make enemies of the District councils when he desperately needs to make friends."

Cllr Fothergill said Mr Liddell-Grainger's comments were 'ignorant and lacked understanding'.

“It is always very sad when someone of Ian’s undoubted intellect makes such unnecessary attacks through ignorance and lack of understanding.

"Had he accepted or even responded to, any one of my recent emails or letters inviting him to meet with me then he would have had a much better grasp.

“Of course we mustn’t forget that in recent years Ian voted to approve all the Governments Finance Acts which have so severely crippled our public services across his constituency and the wider Somerset.

“I am very clear that this is a time to stand up for the residents of Somerset.”

Cllr Fothergill said local authorities have to deliver a balanced budget.

“We cannot overspend and be bailed-out later, we have to live within our means,” he said.

“Despite the huge pressures, until this point we have managed to maintain - and in key areas improve - services, but the funding we receive falls far short of the cost of the services we provide and that has to have an impact.

"We’ve tried hard to avoid this, looked at every option open to us in terms of financial flexibility, but have been left with no choice. “These proposals will be hard to deliver and difficult to stomach for anyone who works for this authority.

“This is the very sharp end of austerity, but the consequences of not taking this action would be even harder on our residents and that has to be avoided.”

The proposals include: - Compulsory two days unpaid for all staff and councillors for the next two years (approx £1m) - Reducing the winter gritting network from 23 to 16 routes (£120,000) - Removal of administration funding from the four district CAB services, protecting the grant (£469,000) - Reduction in the Council’s early help support, including getset services, support for young carers and Youth Services (£2.5m) - Reduced contribution to reserves (£1.9m) - Changes to Learning Disability contract (£770,000) - Cancelling and reducing ICT contracts and licences (£129,000)

If all the proposals are approved by Cabinet, up to 130 staff posts could be lost.

Cllr Fothergill added: “Nobody comes into politics to make decisions like this, but local government’s continuous lobbying for more funding simply hasn’t been heard."

Councillor David Fothergill: “It is always very sad when someone of Ian’s undoubted intellect makes such unnecessary attacks through ignorance and lack of understanding. Had he accepted or even responded to, any one of my recent emails or letters inviting him to meet with me then he would have had a much better grasp.

“Of course we mustn’t forget that in recent years Ian voted to approve all the Governments Finance Acts which have so severely crippled our public services across his constituency and the wider Somerset.

“I am very clear that this is a time to stand up for the residents of Somerset.”

Cllr Mick Lerry, leader of the Labour Group on Sedgemoor District Council, said these cuts would have a major impact on partnership services.

“To offload these budget cuts half way through the financial year, when Sedgemoor District Council has planned for the SCC budget to be available until 2019, is gross political mismanagement by the Conservative-led administration at County Hall,” Cllr Lerry said.

“It has been estimated that over the years the freezing of the Council Tax has led to an accumulation loss of income of nearly £100m.

“This decision meant SCC has been unable to balance the budget without using substantial reserves.

“As a result SCC has to take drastic measures at the 11th hour, similar to Northamptonshire County Council.

“The proposed cuts to the Citizens Advice Bureau, who work with 80,000 residents across Somerset, will impact on CAB’s ability to provide casework provision.

“This in turn will mean that many of the residents in need will be referred to Sedgemoor District Council and this will impact on the council’s services to provide support for local residents.”

Cllr Leigh Redman added: “I am going to spend the next few days fighting to save those most vulnerable in our communities from these ill-thought-out proposals that are based on flawed information and brought together in a rush.”