Town Council Vindicated as Tax Focus Turns to County

Bridgwater Town Council Leader Brian Smedley

The past week has seen high profile media attacks on Bridgwater Town Council from across the blogosphere. Then suddenly it’s gone as the Lib Dems at County pop a nervous head above the parapet to admit in fact it’s them that’ll be raising your council tax by a very large amount in the next few weeks as they try to stave off financial collapse.

County Leader Bill Revans explained that the only way they could set a balanced budget was to agree significant savings by cutting jobs and selling commercial investments, land and property. Revans (Lib Dem) has written to the government requesting to raise the county council tax by more than the 5% limit currently permitted otherwise they are likely to be declared bankrupt calling in Central Government commissioners to run the county. 88% of Council Tax is payable to County and 12% to Town.

Town Council is Saving Jobs, Services and Assets

Bridgwater Town Council is ‘making a difference ‘

Bridgwater Town Council Leader Brian Smedley (Labour) said “This is what we’ve been saying all along. It’s County that’s in trouble and it’s County that will be massively raising your council tax. “

“At Town Council we are NOT in financial difficulties and our modest precept rise is necessary to save jobs, services and assets. The reason we’ve had to suffer these attacks for the past week is that the Tories are desperate to deflect the blame from themselves.”

“They’ve left the country in a mess and also the county. Their crazy ‘unitary’ idea has gone belly up and now everyone is worse off. Others have to pick up the pieces from their years of underinvestment, low taxes and austerity and their only hope was to try to mislead everyone by pointing the finger away from themselves.”

“The Tories thought that if the 39% label would stick on Town, they could front the indignation as if they were totally innocent, but it hasn’t stuck despite all their paid adverts, phony surveys and face to camera ‘Oh no! Look what they’re doing!’ scaremongerings. And without once saying what they’d do different. “

“At County the Lib Dems are having to pick up the pieces and here at Town we’re still reeling from their misdirected blame game. Bridgwater Town Council’s portion of the council tax is only 12% of the total council tax bill. That increase is needed mainly to save jobs and improve services and assets in Bridgwater.”

“The overall council tax bills will not increase by 39%. Instead, the Bridgwater Town Council’s portion will see an increase of 39%, leading to an overall rise of actually just 6% in council tax bills for Bridgwater residents.”

“Bridgwater is raising £1 million to save services for our town and it’s County who are facing a budget gap of £66m. The Tories, by constantly banging on about 39%, wanted people to think it was us raising the whole council tax bill by that amount.”

Anger, Abuse and Petitions

Cllr Smedley’s subtle message in the face of Tory led public indignation

The Tory media campaign, which was picked up by the radio and tv and featured several times by the Bridgwater Mercury, led to anger on social media, abuse directed to town councillors and workers and even the start of a petition, which has attracted seevral hundred names.

Cllr Smedley continued “But the petition gives false hope. I understand people are angry. However, they really need to direct that rage at the right people but at the same time to understand how the system works and not be led up the garden path like this by people making them think this is how they can change things. “

“There is nothing that can result in a ‘public enquiry’ ,  everything is ‘transparent and accountable’, tax payers are not ‘being charged twice for services’ and if they want something ‘raised in parliament’ there’s MPs that can do that anyway.”

“Also, lets get this clear, Bridgwater is NOT the biggest tax in the Southwest, the highest Parish precept is Taunton, and the highest band D is Falmouth in Cornwall. “

“The other thing to get in perspective of course is that most of Bridgwater’s 17,560 council taxpayers, 16,303, are in the lower A to C bands while just 1,257 are D and above. That gives Bridgwater a 93% lower band to 7%upper band ratio while in Taunton that’s 74/26 in Yeovil 85/15 and in Frome 76/24. ALL the other towns start from a higher income base than us!”

Town Council Hits Back

Town Council responds

Bridgwater Town Council has put out an official response to the petition which goes as follows; –

“We are aware of the petition regarding council tax. We understand that any increase in council tax can be concerning for residents. However, it’s important to note that Bridgwater Town Council’s portion of the council tax (precept) is only 12% of the total council tax bill. “

“The increase is needed mainly to save jobs and improve services and assets in Bridgwater.”

Actually a 6% increase

“The overall council tax bills will not increase by 39%. Instead, the Bridgwater Town Council’s portion will see an increase of 39%, leading to an overall rise of approximately 6% in council tax bills for Bridgwater residents.”

Petition is ‘misleading’

The petition is misleading as it includes many signatures from non-Bridgwater residents and contains misunderstandings about how council tax is allocated for service delivery. The services transferred to Bridgwater Town Council are discretionary, not statutory. The Council precept has been agreed by councillors with the precept demand sent to Somerset Council by the deadline of 31 January 2025.

The Actual Figures

Town Clerk David Mears with Finance Chair Cllr Mick Lerry

Here’s a breakdown of Bridgwater Town Council’s tax increase for Bridgwater residents starting 1 April 2025:

  • Band A: £5.27 per week (an increase of £1.48)
  • Band B: £6.15 per week (an increase of £1.73)
  • Band C: £7.03 per week (an increase of £1.98)

What we provide

This weekly amount will fund various services for Bridgwater residents, including:

  • Youth engagement programs
  • Community events
  • Enhanced street cleaning in residential areas
  • Road sweeping and gully clearing
  • CCTV funding (60 cameras across Bridgwater)
  • Maintenance of 25 play areas, parks, and open spaces
  • Community grants schemes
  • Community centres (ReCreation and Rollercoaster)
  • Cemeteries (Bristol Road, Quantock Road and Wembdon Road)
  • Cultural venues (Arts Centre and Town Hall)
  • Christmas lights”

 

Cllr Smedley concluded “Honestly, you’d have thought there was an election on. Oh, hang about there is! Fairfax East on February 6th. Vote for David Solomon!”

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Ian Bugler
Ian Bugler
3 days ago

Cllr Smedley,

I would urge you to re-read the petition carefully. The issue being raised is not about the County Council’s financial difficulties but specifically about Bridgwater Town Council increasing the precept by 39%. The claim that the Town Council is only making a “modest” increase is misleading—this is a significant rise, and residents are rightly concerned.

While County Council’s financial troubles are well-documented, the Town Council has found a loophole allowing it to increase its share of the council tax beyond the standard 5% cap. This is what has triggered the backlash, not a misunderstanding of the overall tax breakdown. The argument that the total council tax bill will only rise by 6% does not diminish the fact that the Town Council’s portion is seeing an unprecedented increase.

Regarding some of your other points:
• The petition reflects genuine public concern, and dismissing it as “misleading” because you think some non-resident signatures does not negate the fact that many Bridgwater residents have signed it.
• The notion that there can be no public inquiry is incorrect—local government decisions can be challenged, scrutinized, and debated at multiple levels.
• While Bridgwater may not have the highest parish precept in the Southwest, that does not justify such a steep rise. Residents are comparing this increase to past years and other local areas, where such jumps have been avoided.
• The upcoming by-election reference makes it clear that this is as much a political battle as it is a financial one, which further supports the need for transparency and accountability.

Bridgwater residents deserve clear, honest communication on why they are being asked to pay significantly more and whether all possible alternatives to such a sharp increase were fully explored.

Regards,
The Shareholders of Bridgwater Town Council

Linda Barnett
Linda Barnett
14 days ago

Excellent article thanks
We know that our money is on safe hands with Labour and especially with Brian Smedly and Mick Lerry at the helm.
Mick would be bound to get value for money and not waste a penny.
Also the team have been able to bring on more external sources of funding through imagination and tireless efforts.

We should be proud of our Council

Marc
Marc
15 days ago

This country has been declining for years and years. We are taxed to death constantly on everything and they just keep pushing and pushing and taking and taking… people living pound to pound wondering how they can eat or feed their families. We should all be looking at emigrating abroad and not look back imo most especially if you have children they have no future here aside from debt and obscene bills.

Val Bannister
Val Bannister
16 days ago

I’m happy to pay the extra for these services – but when are we going to have our plants in our flower-trugs on West Quay? Empty since October!

Tracey Lowther
Tracey Lowther
17 days ago

Let’s face it everyone is doing the best they can with no money and hands tied. It’s tough and will be for a while. Let’s hope the while is a short one !

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