In response to further questions asked by the Leveller, Sedgemoor District Council have today issued a “Position Statement” to reassure residents of Westfield Tower. Specifically, in the light of the widely reported cladding failures in testing of samples taken from tower blocks around the UK, we asked about the choice of cladding at Westfield. SDC

In response to a request from the Leveller, yesterday Homes in Sedgemoor (HiS)  issued a statement on the fire risk at their social housing blocks. Westfield House, a ten storey block and a series of low rise blocks that surround it are all managed by HiS. There will be a full article in the July

The latest inspection by Ofsted of Somerset County Council’s Children  Services team is a mixed blessing. There are undoubtedly some positives and given the low point the department are coming from (two successive “Inadequate” ratings) this is to be welcomed. The Inspection report is on occasion damning in its lukewarm words – for instance “Overall,

New plans have been unveiled which, if funds can be raised, will see the Brewhouse Theatre in Taunton transformed. Encouraged by the successful revitalisation of the theatre under the leadership of Vanessa Lefrancois, Taunton Deane Borough Council, owner of the Brewhouse have prepared plans to upgrade the building. In a year when austerity appears to

Of course as we have been posting up the results of the general election I appreciate that a sizeable number of our readers have actually been waiting for something much more important. So now here is the final tally for the Huish Episcopi Parish Council by-election. Remember that as a result of two resignations, this

It is now 8.30 and whilst we understand that Kensington is going through the recount mill and must be very close indeed, the remaining 3 seats to declare are in Cornwall. Why is that? The most geographically widespread constituency in England is Somerton and Frome and that declared before 4am.  It is not that Cornwall

As we get to the nitty gritty of some finally tuned maths there are (it is now 6.46am) just 7 seats left to declare. 4 of these are in Cornwall which tend to be later on because it is hard to collate numbers from diverse rural constituencies. More interesting is Dudley North – very definitely

Not the party, but for their candidate Elizabeth Riches. Her name did not turn into a prophesy of victory as the LibDem candidate fought what had looked to be a reasonably secure SNP seat. In the event she made a stunning dent in the SNP vote but failed by just 2 votes polling 13743 to

An amazing result from Brighton Pavilion. No the wheels have not come off my understanding of geography (much more on this in the June Leveller) but the result in Brighton conflates two interesting trends. In 2015 Caroline Lucas held the seat for the Greens with “just” 22,871 votes compared to the second placed Labour candidate

If all the talk this morning is about a return to two party politics, Somerset is proving something of an oddity. Yes it is two party politics, its just the wrong second party. Labour have returned to second place in Bridgwater and seen their vote rise across the county but it is still the LibDems