I NOTE that the government has made a grant of £230,000 to Taunton, specifically to address some of the issues with rough sleeping and homelessness. 

This will be good news for a few people; but it is a one-off payment, and there is no indication that similar amounts would be available to help anyone after the money is spent.

At the same time, it’s worth highlighting that local councils, including Taunton Deane Borough Council, have had their support grants from central government cut by over 25 per cent in the last eight years; a reduction of £365,000 for this year alone.

The phrase “robbing Peter to pay Paul” comes to mind.

READ MORE: Government grants council £200,000 to tackle homelessness

Meanwhile, the council is spending over £6 million on the refurbishment of Deane House; a building that may actually become redundant following the merger with West Somerset. (To be fair, no decision has been made yet.)

But if that wasn’t enough, there are now plans to merge all district councils into a single unitary authority, with a planned date some three to four years from now.

So all the money spent on the recent TDBC / WSC merger will have been wasted.

Perhaps it’s time that we had a bit more long-term planning and joined-up consideration in our politics; there certainly seems to be little evidence of any at the moment.

TONY SUTCLIFFE
Taunton