UPDATED (15/6/22): Leader Apologises, Former Leader Responds - North Somerset Councillors Who Didn't Pay Their Council Tax For Months Or Years

 

One of our Official emblems

UPDATED (15/6/22)

We have had responses from the Leader of the Council, the former Leader of the Council, one of the councillors named in the arrears and the Head of Legal (Monitoring Officer).

Following our previous investigations elsewhere in Somerset, and our successes at persuading councillors to resign from office, pay up on their council tax or discourage them from standing again, our investigations have continued.

Now we have found more Somerset councillors who persistently failed to pay their council tax for several months or even years. They are supposed to be serving residents of North Somerset Council. 

But these three councillors (one Conservative, two "independents") persistently failed to pay their council tax for months or over years, and all of them did not vote on the Budget in February 2022 or on your council tax.

One resident asked us: "How is that even legal?" It's a good question. These councillors think that they can get away with it.

We've asked the three councillors to respond to the information that North Somerset Council has given us. It has to be said, North Somerset Council gave us the information only eventually and with a lot of delays, "misunderstandings", issues or errors along the way.

We had an initial response from the Leader of the Council, Independent Councillor Steve Bridger, when we asked him to make sure that the three named councillors responded:

"I note the information you have provided and that you acquired this via an FOI. What you decide to do with that information and any subsequent action you take is of course entirely up to you." 

Unfortunately the response from Councillor Bridger was not satisfactory, as we asked other questions that were not answered. So we followed up. 

Councillor Steve Bridger
(Independent, Yatton)
Leader of the Council

The Leader of the Council, Cllr Bridger, has today apologised to the Leader of Somerset Independents, Andrew Pope, in a lengthy letter about how the Council dealt with the Freedom of Information requests.

Somerset Independents has also today received a response to our questions from the former Leader of the Council, Councillor Don Davies, who resigned suddenly last month, just before the Annual Full Council. He has denied being in arrears with his council tax. Councillor Davies told us:

Councillor Don Davies
(Independent, Pill)

 

"my council tax is not and has not been in arrears."

Councillor Davies did not attend the Budget meeting in February 2022, telling us that he was "on leave". So as with other councillors, he did not vote on your council tax or on how your money will be spent.

Doesn't Somerset Independents Only Cover the County and Districts?

No, we cover the whole of the traditional County of Somerset.

North Somerset Council is a unitary authority. But it also has lower-tier (e.g. town and parish) councils within its boundaries. It can be true that where there is a unitary authority, there is only one tier of local government. But there can also be two tiers. 

To give two examples, Weston-super-Mare and Portishead both have town councils. And they also have councillors on the North Somerset Council, which is a unitary.

Why do we mention this? 

Because of the way the unitary authority was forced upon most of the traditional County of Somerset by the Boris Johnson Government and "Local Conservative" councillors on the County Council. It was marketed by defeated Tory County Council Leader David Fothergill as "One" Council and accompanied by many untruths and false claims. But it is much more complicated than that, as we have explained elsewhere on this website.

And we also mention the two tiers because it is relevant to the councillors who persistently failed to pay their council tax for months or even over years. They may also be town or parish councillors.

 

Where Can We Read More?

Local media are interested in running this story. And we have twice offered the right of reply to councillors - only one has responded so far.

So we will not be naming the councillors yet, or the details. But it will be happening soon - either via local media or via our website - or possibly both.

Who Are Somerset Independents?

Somerset Independents puts residents first.

Join Somerset's own campaign group and political party to celebrate Somerset's past, protect Somerset's present and prepare Somerset for the future.

We can be contacted at the link here and via Twitter @SomerInds, via Facebook at the Somerset Independents page and via email at somerinds [at] gmail.com.