Doubts for Somerset reorganisation poll as Jenrick wades in

摘要

The Government has cast doubt on a poll on reorganisation in Somerset. Voting is underway in a postal ballot organised by district councils asking residents to choose between the county council's proposals for a single unitary council or the two-council model put forward by the districts. The leaders of Mendip, Sedgemoor, Somerset West and Taunton and South Somerset wrote to local government secretary Robert Jenrick asking him to take the poll's results into account when he decides on the future for local government in the county. However, Mr Jenrick has issued a sharp rebuke in his written response. He told the councils: 'My decision will not be made on the basis of which proposal has the most popular support as expressed simply through the number of representations received or the result of a poll.'