Somerset Confidential

27/10/2025

It all started with a quote from on last week's Today programme....
Every passing week seems to reveal something else that points to the increasing financial problems at . This is a summary to date. Not just our view, but the view of the council’s Finance Director too. And a lot of material that has not found its way into the public domain that really should do.
This is not a short piece and we make no apology for that. But it should give you a realistic picture of both how things stand and how we got here….
https://somersetconfidential.substack.com/p/the-wisdom-of-blunkett

24/10/2025

Somerset Council met in Frome this morning to discuss the future of the Saxonvale site. Local residents may not be happy with the outcome.

A meeting of the Executive of Somerset Council in Frome this morning decided on a change of direction over the future of Saxonvale, the old industrial wasteland in the centre of the town.

24/10/2025

This week in our lead article we take a look at the funding of our local end of life hospices. Why are they so poorly served by the NHS and so dependent on charity?
In Somerset councillors are unified on a way forward for planning, but Bridgwater MP Sir Ashley Fox seems not to have got the memo.
And a row has broken out between Sir Ashley and LibDem Council Leader Bill Revans over the one-way system in Bridgwater. Perhaps both might listen to what Cllr Leigh Redman has to say?
There’s encouraging station news in WECA which should point the way to success for Langport and Somerton as they search for a new station.
We take a look at yesterday’s election results in Dunster, Glastonbury and Shepton Mallet. What do they tell us about Somerset politics?
https://somersetconfidential.substack.com/p/hospices-deserve-better

23/10/2025

This is our first venture into video. The film of the restoration of the village clock in was produced by Yeovil company Grace Productions and we wanted to take it to our audience of readers (well hopefully watchers too)

A Somerset treasure restored and refurbished, ready for the centuries ahead.

20/10/2025

With pantomime season approaching, trying to get the story on whether councillors at & North East Somerset Council had or had not been reported to the Police, was made for the stage. A pantomime villain? A hero? Legal threats? We've got em all!

https://somersetconfidential.substack.com/p/oh-no-he-didnt

17/10/2025

This week we look at how the Department for Health and Social Care concluded it wasn’t worth giving front-line staff a -19 jab this winter.
NHS says it has no choice but to follow orders.
And we have short pieces on the by-election + what the Cross Country non-strike means for and the naming and shaming of Somerset businesses who failed to pay staff the minimum wage.....
https://somersetconfidential.substack.com/p/no-jabs-for-nhs-frontline-staff

13/10/2025

Onward Christian soldiers We take a look at the rise of alt right Christianity in and ask if you can have Christianity without ?

As Christians and Christianity play a prominent part in the Unite the Flag protest we take a look at religion and the alt-right and ask the question: has Christ gone missing from Christianity?

10/10/2025

The by-election for Widcombe and Lyncombe for a seat on B&NES council was omitted from our post earlier today in error. So here it is standing on its own two feet.

The by-election for Widcombe and Lyncombe for a seat on B&NES council was omitted from our post earlier today in error. So here it is standing on its own two feet.

10/10/2025

Today is World Mental Health day. As news comes that mental health beds are to close in , we wonder if this is good news? The NHS Trust says that it is….

In , there are green shoots of economic growth starting to emerge. New business registrations are up, unemployment is down. We take a look at the numbers and the economic progress of the rest of Somerset. There’s some good news for jobs in Baltonsborough too!

A care home operating in the former family home has been issued with a safety notice and Requires Improvement assessment by the CQC. They are not happy and fighting the CQC on it.

In there is a new board for Mayday as they try to resurrect their bid to buy the site and implement their plans. The site, which was due to be sold by 31 March, is still unsold.

Meanwhile, Nick a former South Somerset District Councillor, is getting multiple bills for council tax he doesn’t owe, being summoned to court and generally hassled by whilst trying to fight terminal cancer.

And if you are a local charity or CIC and providing warmth and shelter for your community this winter, have a grant fund you may be able to take advantage of. We provide the details.

This week a Chew Valley care home fights its CQC report, closing mental health beds in Bridgwater, Nick Colbert in the firing line, green shoots in Taunton and Mayday Saxonvale has another go in Frome

08/10/2025

The plans to reopen a station at either Langport or Somerton are not dead. Although the fund that once served to support new station openings across Britain has been cancelled, there are still options. A conference at the end of September gave a more hopeful appraisal of the prospects for a new station.
And what goes for Somerton and Langport will go for other communities hoping to get access to the rail network for the same time since the Beeching cuts of the 1960s.
https://somersetconfidential.substack.com/p/its-not-dead-its-resting

06/10/2025

It is a rare thing to be able to unite Conservative and LibDem MPs, unions and local people over one issue. But the NHS in Somerset appears to have achieved just that.
And not in a good way....
Andrea Glennon reports for Somerset Confidential®

Government is merging our integrated care boards (ICBs) that run the local NHS, into mega ICBs. Andrea Glennon discovers major concerns about losing the local touch and that the changes are unfunded.

03/10/2025

This week we take a look at the new Ofsted system. It starts in November but will it tell you anything more about your child’s school?
The Tone Dale complex in Wellington was awarded £20m in Levelling Up funding 2 years ago. We take a look at why only £200k of the money has been spent. And how large sums owed to Somerset Council remain uncollected.
We question why NHS Somerset is monitoring performance, but in many cases without setting targets.
Travellers are in the news at Burnham on Sea and North Curry with a couple of spectacular own goals from Somerset Council in the mix.
The LibDems have reorganised their front bench and Somerset MPs get jobs.
And finally we look at two by-elections for Somerset Council seats in Dunster and Glastonbury.

This week we look at the new Ofsted system, ask where the money for Wellington's Tone Dale has gone, and we've news from North Curry, the LibDems, NHS Somerset, Glastonbury and Dunster