Above inflation budget increases for vulnerable people and cash boost for highways

There will be a 4.99 percent increase in council tax in Devon for the coming financial year.

There will be a 4.99 percent increase in council tax in Devon for the coming financial year.

Devon county councillors today agreed an increase of 2.99 percent for general services with an extra two percent for adult social care.

The annual council tax for an average Band D home will rise by £85.59 – or £1.64 a week – to £1,801.26.

There will be increases in spending of 8.2 percent on adult services and 5.5 percent for children’s services.

Reductions in other departmental spending and increased income will mean an overall rise of 5.9 percent in the budget with a total spend of over £784.1 million.

Councillors also agreed an extra £4 million to boost highways and repair potholes since the target budget was set last month.

There will be an additional £5 million for children’s social care to provide a range of services to allow vulnerable children to be cared for closer to their families and communities.

And there’ll be an extra £500,000 to support the work of district councils and homeless organisations which brings Devon County Council’s homelessness budget up to £1 million.

The extra cash has come from the new additional council tax being levied on second homes.

The budget was approved by 38 votes with four against and seven abstentions.

Council leader James McInnes sharply criticised the Government’s decision to end the Rural Services Delivery Grant which helps councils with the extra cost of providing services in rural areas.

This had cost Devon over £10 million, he said, with funding switched to more urban areas.

In addition Devon had received the lowest financial settlement of all 21 county councils.

Councillor McInnes, said:

“That means we have got to ask our council taxpayers to contribute more to support our services this year,” he said.

“I don’t want to do this. Household incomes are under enough pressure as it is.

“But around four fifths of our spending goes on providing help and care for our most vulnerable children and adults and we’ve included a £4 million boost for repairing our roads, fixing potholes and dealing with drainage and I know our residents will be pleased with that.

“I commend it (the budget) as a continuation of this administration’s prudent commitment to effective and efficient stewardship of our finances designed to get the best value for every pound we spend.”

Cabinet member for finance, Phil Twiss, said:

“The backdrop to this budget is the focus on Devon County Council being a strong and sustainable council with better outcomes at lower cost while living within our means against a backdrop of rising demand and pressure on the services we provide.

“That means a continued focus on the young, the old and the vulnerable.

“Local government nationally is not in a very good place at all, with surges in demand across all services and insufficient financial resources to support the work it does for residents.

“Given these highly challenging circumstances, this is a realistic and good budget for the people of Devon.”