The council is currently in the throes of setting its annual budget, with rising demand for services

Somerset Council is “not in the territory” of effectively declaring bankruptcy within the next 12 months, says its interim finance chief. The council is presently grappling with setting its annual budget, as escalating demand for services and the continually rising costs of meeting these needs make balancing the finances increasingly challenging.

The council’s forecasted budget deficit for 2026/27 has significantly reduced from £73m in December 2025 to approximately £41.4m a month later – although it will still be dependent on extraordinary financial aid from the central government to bridge this gap.

Clive Heaphy, the council’s interim chief financial officer, expressed that he was not immediately concerned about the council’s ability to set its annual budget, adding that he anticipated the projected budget shortfall to decrease further once the government confirmed the final local government funding settlement.

Mr Heaphy discussed the matter extensively when the council’s corporate and resources scrutiny committee convened in Taunton on January 28.

He said: “We have probably moved slightly away from a financial emergency, but let’s be clear: we still have deep issues to do with our budget and balancing our finances, and we still have a lot of work to do. We need to match our spending to our income without reliance on exceptional financial support, reserves or one-off savings.

“You will recall that had a gap coming into this year originally of £101m, representing some 17 per cent of our net revenue budget – that’s a very large deficit by any measure.

“The gap as reported in December was down to £73m, and is now down to £41.4m. By the time we get to the executive [on March 25], we will be moving towards a figure starting with a three, and the likely figure is likely to be in the mid-thirties [millions].”

To bridge the outstanding shortfall, the council is substantially dependent on exceptional financial assistance from central government – which permits the council to utilise the proceeds from disposing of land, property and other assets to fund everyday expenditure (something which is not ordinarily allowed).

The council can only increase its share of council tax bills by a maximum of 4.99 per cent without prompting a referendum, with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) rejecting any higher rise in the final local government finance settlement on Monday (February 9).

The council operates a council tax reduction scheme which offers support for residents who are finding it difficult to pay council tax – with Mr Heaphy noting that the current scheme meant that the equivalent of 12,800 Somerset residents were contributing no council tax whatsoever.

If the council fails to legally set its budget by 11 March, it will be forced to issue a Section 114 notice and declare effective bankruptcy – resulting in the MHCLG dispatching commissioners who can implement sweeping changes with minimal democratic scrutiny.

Mr Heaphy said: “I am pleased to say that this year, we are not in Section 114 territory of at the moment.

“While the reserves are not the levels where we need them to be, I don’t think they represent a risk as long as we are not calling on them for regular, day-to-day spending.”

Councillor Dave Mansell (who heads the opposition Green group on the council) suggested that the council’s choice to spend proceeds from asset sales on its ongoing transformation programme might not deliver value for local taxpayers.

Mr Mansell (who represents the Upper Tone division near Wellington) said: “We have relied a lot on the capitalisation, and I tend to think we’ve relied on that too much – we’ve avoided doing something better with that money.

“We’ve had 15 years of cuts and savings to local government; there have been many painful decisions over those years, and it’s still going on. Our officers are overstretched, having to do too much and are struggling to keep up with everything – I’m sure we all see that.

“It looks like the budget gap will be closed through a council tax increase – I think we have to look at that, given our circumstances.

“Those who don’t want to pay more council tax will have to say which public services they don’t want any more . We’ve already dropped some that we should have kept going.”

Councillor Henry Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat, Castle Cary) argued the council would never achieve financial stability without comprehensive social care reform.

He said: “In my division, I have Chilton Cantelo special needs school and six different adult social care homes – almost every single one of which are now owned by financial institutions in London.

“It is a complete and utter disgrace the amount of money that is being charged by special needs schools – it is more expensive to send a child to Chilton Cantelo than it is to send a child to Eton, and it really isn’t good enough.

“Somebody higher up than me and this committee has got to do something about it.”

The council’s executive committee will reconvene on Wednesday (February 11) to examine rental levels for the authority’s housing portfolio, rather than addressing the complete budget as initially scheduled.

A dedicated executive session will follow on February 25 to scrutinise cost-saving proposals, fee adjustments and any additional measures that might be required once further Government guidance arrives.

The full council will convene at the Canalside conference centre in Bridgwater on March 4 to ratify the budget. Should the budget fail to gain approval, a backup full council meeting has been arranged for March 6 at the same location, with a reserve executive date set for the day before.

Following the budget’s approval, the council will name a permanent successor to Mr Heaphy. The senior management appointments and employment committee is scheduled to convene in a confidential session on Monday evening (February 16) to discuss this matter.

A data breach that impacted a major government tech contractor is now believed to be significantly larger than initially thought, with more than 25 million Americans affected.

Conduent, a business technology firm that provides a variety of services like medical billing, toll transactions and processing prepaid cards for government programs, experienced a data breach that began in October 2024 and was mitigated in January 2025.

Last October, the company began informing consumers who were affected by the breach, which was believed to have affected more than 10 million people who had their names, Social Security numbers and medical information exposed. 

Newly released data breach reports have pushed the number of people affected in Texas to at least 15.4 million, up from an earlier estimate of 4 million that was released in October, according to a report by TechCrunch.

10M AMERICANS HIT IN GOVERNMENT CONTRACTOR DATA BREACH

Conduent has been working through the process of notifying clients and consumers about the data breach. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Additionally, the Oregon attorney general said over 10 million people were affected by the breach, and Conduent has reached out to “hundreds of thousands” of people in Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and other states, according to TechCrunch’s review of breach notifications.

A ransomware group known as SafePay took responsibility for the Conduent data breach and claimed to have stolen over 8 terabytes of data over the course of the intrusion.

CHINA BANS US AND ISRAELI CYBERSECURITY FIRMS OVER NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS: REPORT

Conduent said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last fall that its investigation of the breach “confirmed that the data sets contained a significant number of individuals’ personal information associated with our clients’ end-users,” and it notified its government and private sector clients about the affected end users.

The SafePay ransomware group claimed responsibility for the Conduent data breach. (iStock)

The company added in the Sept. 30, 2025, filing that it’s working with clients on the next steps required by federal and state law “including individual and regulatory notifications that began in October 2025 and are expected to be concluded by early 2026.”

TEXAS GOV ABBOTT ADDS POPULAR CHINESE ELECTRONICS, ONLINE SHOPPING COMPANIES TO ‘PROHIBITED’ TECH LIST

In a statement provided to FOX Business, Conduent said that, “Working in conjunction with our clients, we expect to send out all of the consumer notifications by April 15. In addition, a dedicated call center has been set up to address consumer inquiries. At this time, Conduent has no evidence of any attempted or actual misuse of any information potentially affected by this incident.”

The company said in its statement that “given the nature and complexity of the data involved, Conduent worked diligently with a dedicated review team, including internal and external experts, and conducted a detailed analysis of the affected files to identify the personal information contained therein, which was a time-intensive process.”

Conduent said that it expects to send all consumer notifications by April 15. (iStock)

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“Both Conduent and our third-party experts monitor the dark web regularly and have no evidence of any personal information being released on the dark web,” the statement noted.

In a match that felt more like a chess match between two different eras of basketball, the Oklahoma City Thunder proved exactly why they are currently the standard-bearers of the Western Conference. On a high-stakes Monday night at Crypto.com Arena, the Thunder weathered a barrage from the league’s most potent scoring duo to secure a gritty 119-110 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

The headline of the night was the long-awaited return of Jalen “J-Dub” Williams. After a grueling 10-game absence due to a persistent hamstring strain, Williams didn’t just ease back into the rotation—he took it over. Scoring 23 points in 24 minutes of action, Williams provided the secondary scoring punch OKC desperately needed, particularly with MVP frontrunner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander watching from the sidelines with an abdominal strain.

The J-Dub Effect: A Masterclass in Efficiency

Entering the game, there were questions about Williams’ conditioning and rhythm. Those questions were answered in the opening minutes. While he initially looked for his teammates, his aggressive downhill attacking in the second half turned the tide.

Williams finished with 23 points on 6-of-17 shooting, but more importantly, he lived at the free-throw line, going 11-of-13. His ability to draw fouls against a physical Lakers frontline featuring Deandre Ayton and LeBron James kept the Thunder’s offense afloat during dry spells.

“It felt good to be back out there with the guys,” Williams said post-game, ice packs strapped to his legs. “Watching from the sidelines for two weeks is tough. You see things you want to help with, but you have to trust the process. Tonight was about testing the burst and helping us get back on the right track.”

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault was quick to praise his star wing’s resilience. “Jalen is our connector. Without Shai, he took on a bigger playmaking load early, and when we needed buckets in the fourth, he delivered. To see him get 10 of his 23 in the final period tells you everything about his competitive spirit.”

The Lakers’ New Reality: The Luka & LeBron Experiment

For the Lakers, this game served as a microcosm of their season since the seismic February 2025 trade that brought Luka Doncic to Hollywood in exchange for Anthony Davis.

The Lakers (32-20) were forced to play this marquee matchup without Doncic, who was sidelined with a minor hamstring tweak. In his absence, a nearly 41-year-old LeBron James was forced to turn back the clock once again. James was masterful for three quarters, finishing with 22 points, 6 rebounds, and 10 assists, but the heavy minutes appeared to take a toll in the closing minutes.

The “Doncic Era” has transformed the Lakers into the league’s most dangerous offensive engine, but their defensive vulnerabilities were on full display against OKC. Without their primary engine in Luka, the Lakers relied on Austin Reaves (12 points, 6 assists) and Rui Hachimura, but they struggled to find a consistent rhythm against the Thunder’s league-leading defense.

Lakers coach JJ Redick noted the difficulty of matching OKC’s depth. “They have so many guys who can hurt you. You focus on Chet, then Jalen gets loose. You focus on them, and Isaiah Joe hits four triples. We fought, but we lacked the discipline down the stretch to close out defensive possessions.”

The Turning Point: Third Quarter Surge

The game was a see-saw affair featuring 27 lead changes, a testament to the talent level on the floor. The Lakers held a slim lead midway through the third quarter behind the interior presence of Deandre Ayton, who battled Chet Holmgren in a fascinating matchup of contrasting styles.

However, the Thunder’s depth—long considered their greatest weapon—finally broke the game open. A 16-4 run led by the bench duo of Alex Caruso and Isaiah Joe flipped the script. Caruso, returning to the arena where he won a title in 2020, was a defensive terror, finishing with 17 points and a game-high +19 rating. Joe chipped in 19 points, including four critical three-pointers that silenced the Los Angeles crowd.

By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, OKC held a 9-point lead. Every time the Lakers threatened to cut it to a two-possession game, Williams or Holmgren (13 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks) found a way to respond.

OKC: The Class of the West

The victory cements Oklahoma City (41-13) as the undisputed favorites in the West. They currently rank first in the conference standings, a full five games ahead of the second-place San Antonio Spurs.

What makes the Thunder so terrifying in 2026 is their statistical profile. They are currently the only team in the NBA ranking in the top 3 in both Offensive and Defensive Efficiency. The addition of Isaiah Hartenstein (10 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists) in the 2024 offseason has given them a level of physicality they lacked in previous years, allowing Holmgren to roam as a help-side eraser.

“We aren’t just satisfied with being a good regular-season team anymore,” Holmgren said. “The goal is the Finals. We know the Lakers, the Nuggets, and the Spurs are all chasing us. We have to keep this edge.”

Looking Ahead

The Lakers now face a grueling road trip with Luka Doncic’s status remaining “day-to-day.” Sitting at the 5th seed, they are in a dogfight to avoid the play-in tournament in a Western Conference that features at least ten legitimate playoff-caliber teams.

For the Thunder, the focus shifts to a massive Friday night showdown in Denver against Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets. It will be another litmus test for a young core that no longer looks “young”—they look like champions in waiting.

As Jalen Williams walked toward the locker room, a reporter asked if he felt 100%. He smiled and replied, “I felt 100% when the final buzzer went off and we had more points than them. That’s the only stat that matters.”

Final Box Score Highlights (Feb 9, 2026)

• OKC Thunder (119): J. Williams (23 pts), I. Joe (19 pts), A. Caruso (17 pts), C. Holmgren (13 pts, 10 reb).
• LA Lakers (110): L. James (22 pts, 10 ast), D. Ayton (6 pts, 4 reb), A. Reaves (12 pts), J. LaRavia (11 pts).
• Key Absences: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC – Abdominal), Luka Doncic (LAL – Hamstring).

Ed Miliband has approved a sweeping expansion of renewable energy projects across the UK, backing solar farms that could cover an area of farmland close to the size of Manchester, alongside dozens of new onshore wind developments.

On Tuesday, the energy secretary awarded consumer-funded subsidies to 134 new solar farms across England and a further 23 in Wales and Scotland. He also approved 28 large onshore wind projects, mainly located on hillsides in Scotland and Wales.

Among the schemes given the green light is the vast West Burton solar farm on prime agricultural land on the Lincolnshire–Nottinghamshire border, as well as one of the UK’s most northerly solar developments on farmland in north Aberdeenshire. Miliband has also approved England’s largest onshore wind project in a decade, the 20 megawatt Imerys Wind Farm on a former mining site in Cornwall.

Under the government’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) regime, operators of the new projects will receive a guaranteed minimum price for the electricity they generate for up to 20 years after becoming operational, with the difference funded through levies on consumer energy bills.

The announcement was welcomed by renewable energy developers and industry groups, who argue that large-scale solar and onshore wind are among the cheapest ways to generate new electricity.

However, countryside and community campaigners warned that the decision risks long-term damage to farmland and rural landscapes.

Claire Coutinho, Labour’s shadow energy secretary, said the subsidies would ultimately raise household bills. “The true cost of this power, once you add in network charges and back-up, is far higher,” she said. “All this will do is make electricity more expensive, when what we need is cheaper power to support growth and living standards.”

The approvals include 4.9 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity, 1.3GW of onshore wind and four experimental tidal schemes totalling 21 megawatts. They follow confirmation earlier this month of subsidies for 8.4GW of offshore wind capacity.

Campaign groups argue that the land impact of solar is being underestimated. Rosie Pearson, chair of the Community Planning Alliance, said: “This represents further destruction of countryside and best farmland while warehouse roofs, car parks and houses sit empty of solar panels. Add the pylons that accompany these schemes and rural areas are being industrialised.”

Based on previous developments, the solar farms approved could cover more than 40 square miles of mainly agricultural land, close to the size of Manchester, which spans about 45 square miles. The solar industry counters that improved panel efficiency could reduce the final land take to around 36 square miles, roughly equivalent to Stoke-on-Trent.

Concerns were also raised about the pace of onshore wind development in Scotland. Helen Crawford of the Highland Community Council Convention on Major Energy Infrastructure said communities were being left behind by planning decisions. “The lack of strategic spatial planning has created a democratic deficit between communities and policymakers,” she said.

Industry bodies rejected claims that the projects would push up costs. James Robottom of RenewableUK said new onshore wind would protect consumers from volatile gas prices, while Chris Hewett, chief executive of Solar Energy UK, described the approvals as “proof positive” that solar delivers the cheapest available power.

Miliband defended the decision, saying the expansion would strengthen energy security and cut bills over the long term. “By backing solar and onshore wind at scale, we’re driving bills down for good and protecting families and businesses from the fossil-fuel rollercoaster controlled by petrostates and dictators,” he said.

Under the latest CfD terms, new onshore wind farms will receive a minimum price of £75.50 per megawatt hour (MWh) in today’s prices, while solar projects will receive £68.17 per MWh. That compares with market prices of around £60 per MWh for electricity expected to be delivered in summer 2028.

The Office for Budget Responsibility has previously warned that CfD levies on consumer and business energy bills are projected to rise from £2.3 billion in 2024–25 to around £5 billion by 2030–31, intensifying the political debate over who ultimately pays for the UK’s clean energy transition.

Jamie Young

Jamie is Senior Reporter at Business Matters, bringing over a decade of experience in UK SME business reporting.
Jamie holds a degree in Business Administration and regularly participates in industry conferences and workshops.

When not reporting on the latest business developments, Jamie is passionate about mentoring up-and-coming journalists and entrepreneurs to inspire the next generation of business leaders.

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