Somerset Council says it is already working to fix problems after an independent review said its money management is "weak". The review was presented to the council's Audit Committee on Thursday, 28 May 2026.

It was carried out by CIPFA, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, which checks how public money is managed. CIPFA looked at how Somerset Council plans, controls and looks after its finances, and gave the authority an overall one-star rating.

The Audit Committee report says: "CIPFA's overall conclusion is that financial management is currently 'weak' with an overall one-star rating." Somerset Council pays for major local services across the county, including roads, social care, bin collections, libraries and support for vulnerable residents.

The review did not just look at the finance team. It looked at the whole council and how money decisions are made across the organisation, including leadership, staff, systems, budget control and long-term planning.

CIPFA said the council needs to improve leadership on finance, long-term money planning, budget ownership, forecasting and internal checks. In plain terms, the council has been told it needs clearer plans, better systems and stronger control over how money is managed.

The review also said the council needs to fix problems with finance systems and reduce its use of spreadsheets. Some of the problems are linked to local government reorganisation, when five councils were replaced by one Somerset-wide authority in April 2023.

Somerset Council replaced Somerset County Council and the former district councils of Mendip, Sedgemoor, Somerset West and Taunton, and South Somerset. The Audit Committee papers say the new council still needs to bring together old budgets and ways of working from those former councils.

Somerset Council says it is dealing with the findings through a programme called Building Better Finance. The council says this is a long-term plan to improve financial management, support financial recovery and make the council more sustainable.

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The Audit Committee report says the CIPFA findings and recommendations have been added to that programme. It also says Building Better Finance was already being worked on while the CIPFA review was taking place.

The report says Somerset Council needs to reduce its reliance on one-off help called Exceptional Financial Support. This is not extra free money from government, but permission for the council to use borrowing, capital money or asset sales to help cover day-to-day costs.

Somerset Council has previously confirmed that government approved £30m of this support for 2026/27. This included £25m to cover a budget gap and £5m for transformation work.

The council's papers say medium-term financial sustainability is one of its biggest risks. That means there is a risk the council may struggle to balance its budget in future without one-off support or reserves.

The CIPFA review cost up to £55,000, excluding VAT. The work was approved in an officer decision dated 15 December 2025 and was paid for from existing council budgets.

The report says there are no direct costs from the Audit Committee report itself. But it says the improvement work will need officer time and may need targeted investment if business cases are approved.

The findings have also led to a political argument. Somerset Conservatives have criticised the Liberal Democrat-run council over the review, but CIPFA did not make a party-political finding.

Its report found serious weaknesses in how Somerset Council manages money. It did not say the Liberal Democrats "cannot be trusted" with the council's finances, and it did not say one political group is solely responsible.

The Audit Committee is being asked to look at the CIPFA findings and note that the recommendations are being handled through Building Better Finance. The report says the issue has not been considered by Scrutiny, and says Audit Committee is the right place to look at it because it involves governance, risk, internal control and assurance.

The next Somerset Council elections are due in May 2027.

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