内容摘要：Neil Cox from the commission said the issues were caused by "inconsistent leadership and a closed culture".

Neil Cox from the commission said the issues were caused by "inconsistent leadership and a closed culture".

Speaking to BBC Somerset, he said councils all over the country were in the same position.But he blamed the Conservatives for failing to raise council tax for the past six years when they were in control of the council and for putting Somerset "closer to the edge".

He added a consultation of residents had found 52% were in favour of higher taxes to protect services.Opposition Conservative group leader, Mandy Chilcott, said her party had always managed to "balance the budget with the money we had" without the need for tax increases.Revans said the system for funding local authorities was "basically broken" and urged the government to take action on a national level.

The government announced the extra £700m for English council budgets in December, as a "first step" to rebuild their finances.The Civil Service will be reformed under "radical" plans to be announced this week, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden has told the BBC.

Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, he said parts of the Civil Service "would and can" be smaller, with the government expected to prioritise frontline jobs, like border guards and prison officers. He did not give a figure for reducing staff levels.

As part of the measures, senior staff will have performance-related pay and those failing to meet required standards could be dismissed if they do not improve within six months.Jordan Sargeant, manager for Transport Focus, said: "The key things with the A12 in this survey is the road surface... the need for improvement in this area for the road surface is clear." National Highways said it was completing £100m of improvements.

The survey was responded to by 9,000 road users and feedback on journey time, road surfaces and potholes was provided.Mr Sargeant said another reason why the A12 had such negative feedback was the volume of roadworks.

"People find it frustrating when they don't see work being done or they don't understand how long work is going to last," he said.Bill Allwood from Yoxford, a village on the A12, said travelling on the road was "always a gamble".