The main news this month is that 1st April was ‘vesting day’ for the new Somerset Council, a ‘unitary authority’ that has taken over all services from the district and county councils. That means no more Mendip District Council, or Somerset County Council.

110 Somerset Councillors were elected as county councillors last May, with 61 Lib Dems forming the new administration (see below) taking over from the Conservatives. I’m one of the two for Frome North (the top right corner of the map) and six for Frome in total.

To access council services there is now a single website www.somerset.gov.uk and a single telephone number 0300 123 2224 (open from 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Friday). Council Access Points, including in Frome Library will remain (with several more opening elsewhere).

The Council has also started a weekly email newsletter you can sign up to, so please see here to be even more informed – https://www.somerset.gov.uk/newsroom/.

Somerset Council is now one of the largest unitary councils in England, with a population of 545,000 (excluding B&NES and North Somerset), 512 services and 110 councillors. It replaces the four district councils, Mendip, Sedgemoor, Somerset West and Taunton, and South Somerset, and Somerset County Council, bringing staff and services like Housing, Social Care, Planning, Highways, Education, Public Health, Libraries, Recycling and much more, into one organisation.

The new planning committee arrangements (which replace Mendip’s Planning Board with a Planning Committee for Somerset East) are explained here. To ensure more decisions are made locally, new Local Community Networks are being formed – see here.

This is the biggest shake up of local government in Somerset for 50 years. This has been a mammoth task, delivered on time and on budget – please see here ttps://www.somerset.gov.uk/flags-fly-as-new-era-dawns/.

It is my role as one of your elected Somerset Councillors to represent the local communities of Frome North to the Council, help you access services and help make better decisions in the public interest for the benefit of the community, of Frome North, and Somerset. So do get in touch with any concerns or issues you may have – email me at adam.boyden@somerset.gov.uk (official) or cllrboyden@gmail.com.

Some answers to ‘FAQ’ can be found here https://newsomersetcouncil.org.uk/faqs/, and useful webpages are below:

• Recycling and waste collections
• Council Tax
• Care and support for adults
• Household support fund
• Children, families and education
• the Council and democracy
• Environmental health, noise, nuisance, and climate strategy
• Reporting a noise nuisance
• Protecting children, young people and vulnerable adults
• Housing support
• Planning, building and land, including planning policy, enforcement, and how to comment on a planning application
• Roads, travel and parking, including how to report a problem on the road

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