Funding ‘cliff-edges’ must be removed, Devon chief urges new government

The new government must work to remove funding ‘cliff-edges’ if it wants councils to prosper, Devon’s chief has warned.

Donna Manson, the chief executive who has run Devon County Council since February last year, said huge uncertainties about which central government pots of money would be continued or refreshed created a huge problem for councils.
The comments came in a letter to what is now the ministry of housing, communities and local government.
That department’s predecessor under former prime minister Rishi Sunak, the department for levelling up, housing and communities (DLUHC), wrote to councils in April to ask them for productivity plans, setting out how they would improve services and reduce wasteful expenditure.
Even though Labour won the general election, the renamed department still wants the information from councils.
In her response, Ms Manson outlined how the authority’s “prudent financial planning” meant it had been able to spend an extra £12 million on highways  this year, and explained how its work with other organisations, such as the NHS, helped it use money wisely.
But she said there is more the government could do.
“The cliff-edges caused by uncertainties in whether funding programmes for skills and business development will be renewed leads to a loss of experienced staff and risks to business support and innovation,” she said.
“Government has yet to deliver on its commitment to a provide long-term, sustainable approach to the funding of adult social care.
“The underfunding of this creates a lack of capacity in community-based health and care services, which can sometimes cause delays hospital discharge and the flow of patients.”
Ms Manson also criticised the former department’s “plethora of short-term, one-off funds” which she said wasted money and resources for councils that want to bid for them.
“DLUHC’s three levelling-up funds had overlapping investment themes around regeneration, culture, and transport, but it allocated funding in different ways, which meant that local councils could not align their plans to secure the most value,” she said.
Ms Manson said councils need to be “properly resourced to take on and deliver all new burdens” that were often placed on local authorities by central government “at short notice”.
Elsewhere, she said the council is working to dispose some properties and land it feels it no longer needs, in a bid to raise funds and reduce outgoings.
While all councils have to submit their productivity plans, it is understood that they will not be used to rank local authorities in any way.