Somerset: Five big changes set to happen in 2026

There are some major changes planned for Somerset this year which are set to have a big impact on our county.

From the UK's biggest electric vehicle (EV) battery plant taking shape, to Somerset Council's attempts to stave off effectively going bust, the county could see some big developments in 2026.

Below, we take a look at five of Somerset's biggest schemes for the year ahead.

With the civil construction work nearing completion and the second dome in place, attention is now firmly on the nuclear power station's fit out with pipes, cables and equipment.

Last February, the company said construction was due to reach its peak in the next 18 months, with about 15,000 people expected to work on the site.

EDF, the energy firm behind the project, has said this includes 3,000 new jobs in Somerset.

Andrew Cockcroft, the head of stakeholder engagement and social impact at EDF, said: "Our focus will shift from building the building to installing thousands of kilometres of pipework, and cabling and components into the reactor building.

"We've built the outside of the power station. We now need to plug it in and wire it up."

Hinkley Point C, near Bridgwater, is scheduled to open in 2031 - five years later than originally planned.

Once open, leaders say it will generate enough low-carbon electricity to power about six million homes for the next 60 years.

Changes to the Special Education Needs and Disabilities (Send) system were expected from the government in 2025, but the schools white paper was then pushed back to early in the new year.

Families across the county are hoping this year they will see improvements to the way assessments are carried out and the care offered afterwards.

Claire Naylor opened The Den Coffee House in Taunton last year, an inclusive café which also offers Send advice.

She said: "Send families are hoping for meaningful reform, not another set of promises.

"They want timely assessments, legally compliant provision, and clear accountability - alongside far better training for frontline professionals, including teaching staff and local authority teams, so children's needs are understood properly from the outset rather than challenged or minimised."

In a statement, the Department for Education said the government had inherited a Send system "left on its knees".

"[This] is why we are engaging closely with children, parents and experts, as we develop plans to ensure all children get the outcomes and life chances they deserve."

A huge electric vehicle battery factory is "on track" to open in Somerset 2027, and 2026 will see a number of milestones towards that.

In November, Agratas shared footage of its site near Bridgwater, Somerset, where the steel frame of the first factory building was taking shape.

The company says by the end of 2026, it will look from the outside like a fully formed-factory building, while on the inside fitting-out of the production line will have started.

There are currently 500 people working on site – this will have significantly increased by the end of 2026 to about 2,400 people.

And they will start recruiting people to work in the factory when it is operational with 1,600 roles needed for the first factory.

The company also says it will start work in 2026 on a new ring road which will link the development to the M5.

With Somerset Council terminating the Life Factory project, we will find out in 2026 what will be the fate of the Red Brick Building Centre in Glastonbury.

The project was meant to see a derelict former factory block transformed into a community events space, offices and youth facilities.

Red Brick was the recipient of £2.4m from the government's Towns Fund which the local authority is taking steps to recover.

Late in 2025, the Red Brick board said it did not have "the financial capacity to repay this sum" and was preparing for "the very real possibility of insolvency" with a decision on its future, including the community centre it has run since 2013, expected within two weeks.

Meanwhile, 26 creditors who claim to have done work on the Life Factory building are still waiting to find out if they will ever get fully paid.

Avon and Somerset Police are also reviewing audit documents to establish whether there is any potential evidence of criminality that would warrant a formal criminal investigation to be carried out.

Councillors will be returning to County Hall and attempting to set a balanced budget by the end of February.

The Lib Dem-led authority has already warned that people are likely to see their council tax bills continue to rise, as it attempts to avoid going effectively bust.

Even with a proposed 4.99% rise in its share of council tax bills, the authority said it was facing a funding gap of £73m - which it said it was "working hard to reduce".

In 2025, Somerset Council was given special permission by the government to increase council tax by 7.49%.

It is also expected to ask, for a third year, for permission to sell-off assets like commercial investments and office buildings, and use that money to pay for day-to-day services.

The council has said the model of funding local government services, like adult and children's services, is broken.

The government previously said it would "work with councils on improvement and actions they can take to help manage their position to ensure value for taxpayer money".

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