Brent Knoll Councillor Bob Filmer has questioned whether Somerset Council can deliver the pace of change needed to tackle rising pressures and secure its long‑term future.
Councillor Filmer’s intervention at the latest council meeting comes as Somerset Council is forecasting an overspend of £30.863m just three months into the financial year, with members seeking assurances that meaningful reform can be delivered before budget pressures become even more severe.
Councillor Filmer acknowledged the work already being done by officers and members to respond to the challenges facing Somerset Council, but he said issues around growing demand‑led costs had been raised repeatedly since discussions on local government reorganisation first began.
Referring to continuing overspends highlighted in the latest monitoring reports, he described it as the “£64million question”, asking senior officers whether the council is truly capable of stepping up the pace now required.
“Are we actually capable of stepping up that pace and make that step change now to address this?” he asked.
“Because we now are at the stage where we are looking at not having those reserves that we can call on in terms of selling off assets going forward.”
”At the moment we’ve been talking, we’ve been saying all the right things and we’ve been trying to do all the right things, but it hasn’t got us to where we need to be. So are we confident that we can now make that change at this point in time?”
Chief Executive Duncan Sharkey said he believed the council could increase the pace of change, but warned that many of the solutions required are long‑term rather than immediate.
He explained that reducing pressure on services such as adult and children’s social care depends on investing in prevention and early intervention, helping people before costly statutory support becomes necessary.
He added that a council‑wide approach to transformation was needed, focused on neighbourhood working rather than isolated service‑based programmes.
Senior officers also sought to provide wider context. David Coleman‑Groom, Executive Director for Adults and Housing, said a significant proportion of the forecast overspend in adult services was linked to changes in NHS funding arrangements rather than rising demand, and that pressure should reduce as assessments are completed.
Claire Winter, Executive Director for Children’s Services, outlined ongoing work to support foster carers, reduce placement costs and help children safely return home where appropriate, but cautioned that financial benefits would take time to show.
