Council services

Somerset Council is our new unitary council that took over in April 2023 from Somerset County Council and Somerset West and Taunton Council.

Town and parish councils are smaller local councils. They can provide or support local facilities, such as allotments, burial grounds and playing fields, and also provide additional representation for their communities, alongside Somerset Councillors.

The Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership is a business-led partnership between the private sector, local authorities, universities and colleges, which covers Devon, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay.

Services provided, with links, are given below. Also see community services.

Finding service information, reporting problems, placing orders and making enquiries is often easiest to do on the new Somerset Council website. The website is still being improved and more content will be added. If needed, there is a single phone number to call Somerset Council: 0300 123 2224

Somerset Councillors for the Upper Tone Division are: Cllr Dave Mansell and Cllr Gwil Wren. We cover Wiveliscombe town and the parishes of Ashbrittle, Bathealton, Bradford-on-Tone, Chipstable, Fitzhead, Halse, Langford Budville, Milverton, Nynehead, Oake, Sampford Arundel, Stawley, and Wellington Without.

Contact details for all Somerset Councillors.

Somerset Council services (click on links for details and contacts) include:

COUNCIL TAX AND BENEFITS

• Council Tax and Business Rates.
• Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction.

ENVIRONMENT, PLANNING AND WASTE

• Climate and ecological emergency, including projects, funding and strategies.
• Environment and food safety, including dog control, environmental health, pollution, noise and nuisance.
• Flooding information and advice.
• Planning, including applications, building control, enforcement and plans.
• Planing, buildings and land, including biodiversity, building your own home, heritage, landscape, trees and hedges, phosphates and street names.
• Recycling and waste collections (order bins and report missed collections).
• Recycling Centres (nearest at Taunton and Wellington) and waste disposal.
• Guidance on waste reduction and reuse, hazardous waste and business waste.
• Litter and street cleansing (report litter and fly tipping).

HOUSING

• Housing support, including council and social housing, affordable housing, housing options, multiple occupation homes, and advice and grants.
• Homefinder Somerset.
• Homelessness advice and assistance.
• Refugee resettlement.
• Also see home assistance under community services.

SOCIAL CARE, EDUCATION, FAMILIES AND HEALTH PROMOTION

• Adult social care, including carers, care homes, help to live at home, safeguarding, and Somerset Lifeline.
• Children’s services, including adoption, fostering, early years childcare, safeguarding, social care, and child protection, health and wellbeing.
• Education, including adult learning, special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and school transport.
• Health, safety and wellbeing, including mental health, smoking and sexual health.
• Also see education and special needs under community services.

TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

• Roads, travel and parking, including buses, community transport, gritting, parking, permits, rights of way (report a  problem), road safety, roadworks, street lighting and travel.
• Report problems on the road, including potholes, overgrowth and blocked drains.
• Roadworks and travel – live updates.
• Transport strategies, policies and plans, including buses, cycling, parking, road safety, trains and walking.
• Also see transport under community services, including for local service providers and reporting accidents and incidents on the road.

OTHER SERVICES

• Births, ceremonies and deaths.
• Business, economy and licences, including advice and support, commercial land and properties, markets and street trading, regeneration, town centres.
• Civil contingencies, including emergency response.
• Council and democracy, including complaints, council meetings, elections and Local Community Networks.
• Heritage and museums – South West Heritage Trust.
• Jobs and careers with the council.
• Leisure and tourism, including arts and entertainment, parks and open spaces, sport, community centres and village halls, heritage, community safety and volunteering.
• Libraries.
• Somerset intelligence, including statistics and research on Somerset.
• Trading standards.

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Parish and Town Councils

Parish and town councils represent their areas and can provide additional local services to those provided by Somerset Council.

As Somerset Councillors, Dave Mansell and Gwil Wren cover the following parishes in the Upper Tone division:

• Ashbrittle Parish Council
• Bathealton Parish Council
• Bradford-on-Tone Parish Council
• Chipstable Parish Council
• Fitzhead Parish Council
• Halse Parish Council
• Langford Budville Parish Council
• Milverton Parish Council
• Oake Parish Council
• Nynehead Parish Council
• Sampford Arundel Parish Council
• Stawley Parish Council
• Wellington Without Parish Council
• Wiveliscombe Town Council

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The Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership covers Devon, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay. It determines local economic priorities and allocates funding from a number of Government grants and programmes. See website for details.