HUGE job losses could be on the cards at West Somerset Council under plans being put to councillors to try to secure the long-term viability of the authority.

Only a handful of staff could be based in West Somerset if the council becomes a "commissioning authority" - buying in services from neighbouring councils and organisations while retaining a full quota of councillors to represent local residents.

The idea will be discussed by members at a special council meeting next Wednesday following a hard-hitting Local Government Association (LGA) report which questioned the very viability of the authority in its current form.

Councillors will also be asked to approve a £25,000 budget to employ a specialist to guide the authority through the process and to support plans for Sedgemoor District Council to help West Somerset draw up a business case for the commissioning of services.

West Somerset Council's chief executive Adrian Dyer said the report had potentially far reaching consequences for the district and council staff, although the exact impact was not yet known.

"One of the defining principles and strengths of this model is the separation between the decision-making and delivery of services," he said.

"West Somerset would continue to exist as the democratically elected accountable body for the communities of West Somerset.

"The council would commission other service providers who would predominantly, but not exclusively, be neighbouring councils to provide the services it wishes to deliver.

"The council would itself only retain a small nucleus of staff to manage commissioning arrangements once in place, monitor the performance of providers and service the democratic arrangements and decision-making process."

Becoming a commissioning authority is currently the favoured option among officers and leading councillors, but until a business case is drafted there are numerous question marks over whether such a scheme would work in reality.

On face value, the authority should save a significant amount of money by buying-in statutory services, but it is not yet clear whether the saving would be enough and how much it would cost to retain a "virtual council" in the district.

The option is seen as the best of the four currently on the table following the publication of last month's damning LGA report which concluded that after 2015 the authority would no longer be viable.

The other options include a full merger with neighbouring councils, marking the end of West Somerset Council as a unit of local government, sharing management and services with other councils, or significantly increasing Council Tax.

The council called in the LGA after a series of high-level talks with Government ministers about the financial future of the authority.

By the council's own figures, although savings could help it limp along over the next two years, its long-term future remains bleak, with an estimated budget deficit of £1.28 million by 2016.

Large cuts in Government grants, increased service delivery costs and a low Council Tax base have all been blamed.

In a report to next week's council meeting, Mr Dyer says the findings of the LGA report - which warned that the authority faced the very real prospect of going bust - came as no surprise to the authority.

"The issue of the council's precarious financial standing is not something that has just come to the surface," he says. "It was first brought to the attention of members in January 2008.

"When it came to drafting a budget for 2011/12 it soon became clear that the budget gap could be of such a size to question the viability of the council.

"In response, it was decided to make sure the Department for Communities and Local Government was aware of the council's situation when considering the forthcoming local Government spending review.".

Mr Dyer said the Government had initially suggested that the council should increase its Council Tax above the national capping limit - around 39 per cent of the district council's share of bills, the equivalent of an increase of £1 a week for taxpayers.

But ministers had since changed their minds and had also ruled out initial LGA suggestions that the Boundary Commission should be called in review the very existence of West Somerset as a district.

Mr Dyer said Brandon Lewis, the parliamentary under secretary of state with responsibility for local government, had been "quite clear" the current council set-up was not sustainable and future Government grants would not solve the authority's financial problems.

He had also decided that a significant increase in Council Tax was not the answer in the long run but was adamant West Somerset Council should be retained as a accountable unit of local government.

"He suggested that a possible way forward could be the creation of a 'virtual authority', which would involve the sharing of management and services with neighbouring local authorities within Somerset," Mr Dyer said.

Since then, the idea of a commissioning council had evolved following discussions with leaders and chief executives from Sedgemoor District Council and Somerset County Council.

"There was a strong message from Brandon Lewis that there was an expectation within Government that local authorities, including county councils, would be working closely together to create efficiencies," said Mr Dyer.

"There is a very strong commitment from all councils to assist West Somerset Council and to help foster and strengthen this culture of working closely together it was agreed to create a 'Strategic Alliance'."

The alliance compromises representatives from Sedgemoor District Council, Taunton Deane Borough Council, Exmoor National Park Authority and Somerset County Council.

Sedgemoor is likely to take the lead on investigations into the viability of West Somerset becoming a commissioning council if the district's own councillors agree.

Mr Dyer added: "Before looking at the options available to it, the council should be clear what it is trying to achieve.

"The obvious objective is the long-term financial sustainability of the council, which maintains the delivery of key services to the benefit of the communities of West Somerset.

"However, linked to this, it is suggested, should be the objective of retaining the 'sovereignty' of the council as the local democratic accountable body in West Somerset."