EVERY public toilet in West Somerset council be closed next year unless parish and town councils step in to keep the doors open.

Street cleaning, litter and dog bins, grounds maintenance and free car parking are also under the cost-cutting microscope as the district battles to try and save £1.5 million between now and 2015.

But Cllr Kate Kravis, the authority's lead member for finance, told Wednesday's full council meeting that despite budget pressures, the authority was not simply following a slash and burn policy.

"This is to save money, but by doing things differently, rather than cutting, closing and stopping," she said.

"We are in a situation where we have to talk to try and find individual solutions for each parish and town council.

"We certainly won't be shunting things on to parish and town councils. We will talk to them and see what they want."

She accepted that without the co-operation of parish and town councillors, some services would have to be reduced or cut completely.

Currently, all 19 public conveniences in West Somerset will be closed once the current operations contract with Veolia ends in September next year.

The district is keen for parish and town councils to take over the operation of the facilities, rather than the ownership, although the cost of running local toilets will then have to be borne by people living in the particular towns and villages through the parish precept on their Council Tax bills.

It would be the same principle for street cleaning, as although a "minimum level" of cleaning will be set across the district, parish and town councils would be asked to consider raising the bar by possibly employing their own staff, such as a parish lengthsman, to undertake local litter and maintenance duties.

As part of that, the number of litter and dog bins will also be reviewed and parish and town councils asked to consider taking on volunteers or paid workers to carry out local litter sweeps.

The removal of dog faeces and some litter bin-emptying would remain under the district council umbrella.

Cllr Kravis said a "one size fits all" approach would not work across the district, especially when it came to considering the future of grounds maintenance, as there were already different arrangements in place in various towns and villages.

She said the district also currently undertook grass cutting on behalf of Somerset County Council in return for an annual payment of £6,000.

But because the money did not cover the workload, the district council intended to stop doing the bulk of the county's work and would instead ask the county council to draw up a priority list that would be covered by the £6,000 figure.

The final string in the money-saving bow would be the possibility of introducing car parking charges in free car parks in Crowcombe, Kilve and Blue Anchor.

Cllr Kravis said that although free to use, there was still a cost incurred by the district council in their maintenance and operation and she said parish and town councils would have to consider taking responsibility for them or accept the district council would be introducing charges.

"If we devolved everything it would result in £423,000 savings, but we have to strike a balance.

"Throughout the summer and into the autumn we will be holding a series of meetings.

"Rather than stop this and cut that with no consultation, which I feel would be a deeply wrong way to approach it, we are doing this in an open and consultative manner," she said.

The council has long blamed the Government for failing to provide adequate grant funding for the district's financial problems.

Finance chief Graham Carne said the council had a legal duty to balance its books, no matter how little cash was forthcoming from Westminster.

"The district needs to save money, that is without question," he said.

"The cuts imposed by central Government are fact; the caps applied on increases in Council Tax exist, they are not forecast or estimate.

"The council must work closely with its parishes and towns to come to suitable arrangements that benefit all organisations.

"This project is not intended to result in simple 'dropping' of services by the district onto parish and town councils.

"While the district will save money, it will not save the taxpayer a penny if budgets are merely shunted from one organisation to the next."

The majority of councillors accepted the authority had no choice but to follow its current path.

"It is regrettable this paper has had to be brought forward, but it is very necessary," Cllr Anthony Trollope-Bellew said.

"This is not of our making, we have been incredibly unfairly dealt with by governments of all political persuasions," Cllr Doug Ross added.

But Cllr Jon Freeman was unconvinced and called for "honesty" among his colleagues.

"It is about dumping services and costs. We're saying we're not providing toilets in your ward, if you want them then you'll have to pay for them.

"It's not a discussion, it's a diktat," he said.

Councillors voted to go ahead with the consultation on the potential devolution and delegation of some services, with a view to finalising the arrangements in November.