DRASTIC cost-cutting measures are on the cards across West Somerset, including compulsory redundancies at the district council, the sale of county council-owned assets and a halt on all major capital projects in the national park.

All the district's local authorities - Somerset County Council, West Somerset Council and Exmoor National Park Authority - are looking at major rationalisation plans to save money.

The national park authority has had its Government grant cut by almost £200,000 this year, the viability and long-term future of cash-strapped West Somerset Council is already hanging in the balance, while the county authority says it needs to save £4.5 million this year alone.

All three are being forced to take action as local authority funding is likely to be cut further as the Government battles to make nationwide savings in the region of £6.3 billion.

Among the most controversial measures are county council proposals to cut office desk space by 40 per cent and plans to sell off authority assets, including land, depots and farms.

In West Somerset, the office space of 44 staff is under review at both the Minehead Social Services area office in Townsend Road and the Watchet Youth Office in South Road.

Farmland west of Washford, Merway's Knapp at Woolston Moor, Mount Brake in Minehead, a county farm at Northay Farm in Halse, Quantock farms at West Hill and Eight Acres, Roebuck Copse in Crowcombe, a sub-depot in Upton, West Quantoxhead Copse and West Somerset Railway land at Stogumber, Norton Fitzwarren and Turks Castle are all on the list for possible disposal.

County council cabinet members - which include West Somerset's Cllr Christine Lawrence and Cllr Anthony Trollope-Bellew - will be asked to consider a wide-ranging review of office and land holdings when they meet on Monday.

Corporate director Roger Kershaw said the proposals supported the council's ongoing "relentless drive for efficiency", especially in the face of "severely restricted" central Government funding.

He said officers were hoping office space could be reduced from 32 separate centres to just "five or ten", while the sale of a handful of county farms since 2005 has already netted the authority £13.8 million.

"The current financial climate means that we must look at all options to reduce our expenditure.

"The county farms estate provides a significant opportunity to release capital.

"If farms can be sold to either existing tenants or to other farmers, the traditional farming culture in Somerset that has been well served by county farms can be sustained but not at the expense of the taxpayer," Mr Kershaw said.

But the Tenant Farmers Association has warned the county against "squandering vital assets" through a "knee-jerk policy".

Association chief executive George Dunn said no public consultation had been carried out on the proposals and there was no information about where the £13.8 million already raised by farm sales had gone.

Mr Dunn said: "Whenever county farms issues have been raised in Somerset in the past there has been a groundswell of public support for their retention.

"I am also greatly troubled that the cabinet intends only taking two months to review its policy.

"I have urged the cabinet members not to take a precipitous decision which they and Council Tax payers will in time regret."

But County Hall bosses have already warned of £3 million in funding and grant cuts in the forthcoming year - as well as an additional £1.5 million cut in transport budgets.

The authority is also looking for voluntary redundancies and already has a recruitment freeze in place as part of a drive to save another £1 million.

County council leader Cllr Ken Maddock said: "These are tough times and it is a challenge to make these savings in just a few months.

"However, the country is in a mess and we all have to play our part – there is no doubt that far bigger and more painful cuts will be announced before long."

Exmoor National Park Authority's chief finance officer Charles Burrows will give a similar warning to the park's resources and performance committee meeting next Tuesday.

He will ask members to back plans to bridge a £198,873 funding gap in this year's budget by releasing reserves and put a hold on all major capital schemes and projects, with the exception of the Lynmouth Pavilion scheme.

Mr Burrows said the authority's Government funding had been cut by five per cent since May and more reductions were likely.

"It has to be borne in mind that this is the coalition Government's initial reductions programme and that there will be an emergency budget on June 22 with a spending review covering the period 2011/12 to 2014/15 to be completed by the autumn.

"The future financial position is, therefore, uncertain particularly given that Defra is not one of the protected [Government] departments and could face relatively high funding reductions in the future years covered by the spending review and this is going to impact on the future levels of National Park Grant," Mr Burrows said.

But despite the gloomy financial forecasts, West Somerset Council is hoping to persuade Government Ministers to treat it as a special case and give it more money not less.

The authority is known to be looking at deleting some posts to save money and is planning to use the so-called 'Roots Report' to lobby central Government for additional funding.

Troubleshooter Bill Roots, the former chief executive of Westminster City Council, concluded the authority was "almost unique" due to its small population, rural character and low Council Tax base.

He was drafted in by the council to scrutinise its finances and found the authority had been run in an "imprudent fashion" in the past, leaving it in a precarious financial position and with low staffing levels which could have to be cut further.

Council leader Cllr Tim Taylor said Government officers were already aware of Mr Roots' findings but the authority was waiting to discover what next Tuesday's emergency budget held before making its case in the strongest possible terms.