DID you have a chance to pop into Midsomer Norton Town Hall on the night of the Christmas Fayre? The ground floor was open to the public and we’ve had some really positive feedback from people who visited. This has been a major renovation project between the Town Council and B&NES. And now we’re entering the final stages. Once the fully refurbished space is up and running, the Town Hall will once again be a focal point for the community.

In other good news for Midsomer Norton, the Town Council has given its seal of approval to the Town Masterplan. The plan comes out of really extensive engagement across the whole community. It will help chart the way forward for the next phases of the town’s regeneration. The next step is for B&NES Council to approve the plan in the next few weeks.

Public spending has been top of the news agenda in recent weeks. Councils continue to face significant financial pressures in light of more than a decade of dwindling support and rising demand for services.

We work incredibly hard to support our residents and protect essential local services. However, we need more long-term certainty from government so that we can plan ahead accurately.

With the council’s annual budget setting process underway, we are still waiting to hear about funding for councils. Many will agree with the government’s goal of redistributing funding to those places that need it most. But a truly fair funding review would provide extra funding so that no council loses. We are calling on the government to urgently think again.

Last spring we took Adult Social Care services back in house from private sector providers. The council is investing £1.79 million, over two years, to transform our adult services which has led to significant improvements for service users. Feedback from residents using these services has been overwhelmingly positive.

One example of improvements delivered by your local Council is the newly opened occupational therapy assessment centre at Combe Lea in Midsomer Norton. This service is the first of its kind in Bath & North East Somerset and will serve residents across the area. It’s already proving to be great support to residents going through illness or injury and for people with a disability. I’m delighted to see that our residents are getting personalised care, equipment and adaptations to improve quality of life and supporting them to live independently. More people are benefitting from the service, as well as other measures, that have seen the Occupational Therapy waiting list fall from 229 in January to 41 in August this year.

Turning to children’s services, we recently called on government to crack down on private companies profiteering from delivery of services to vulnerable children. Our children’s services budgets have grown by nearly 50% over the past few years, putting even more pressure on the entire council budget. Public money spent to support vulnerable children should not bolster private equity companies’ profits.