Stark warning as Devon council tax set to rise

The budget for 2015/16, which will now be discussed by the full county council next Thursday (February 19) still calls for £46 million of savings.

The Cabinet backed a council tax rise of 1.99 per cent to prevent even tougher cuts in hard-pressed services.

This year alone the authority’s funding from central government fell by 14 per cent despite Government claims that Devon’s spending power had risen by half of one per cent.

The savings of £46 million will leave the authority spending £500 million in the coming financial year.

Council leaders said a 1.99 per cent increase in council tax will minimise the need for even deeper spending cuts.

The increase will add less than 50p a week to the average council taxpayer’s bill but will bring in £6.2 million over the next year.

An average Band D taxpayer will now pay £1,161.27 for county council services – up £22.68 on last year.

Council Leader John Hart Leader of Devon County Council, John Hart Both Mr Hart and deputy leader John Clatworthy issued a stark warning about the future.

“I have been leader of this council for six years,” said Mr Hart, “and every year we have had to reduce the services we can provide for the people of Devon because of the coalition Government’s continuing austerity agenda.

“But don’t expect any change after the General Election, no matter who wins.

“All the main political parties are committed to holding the current spending plans for the next two years and for Devon that means at least £34 million will have to be saved next year.

“It is getting tougher every year. President Kennedy once said: ‘I am starting to realise that this job is about choosing between two lousy options and the right choice is a little less lousy’.

“I would say we are between a rock and a hard place and the gap is getting bigger every year.

“We have to find the money to provide the services we are legally obliged to provide but there is very little left to do what we would like to do.

“And I can’t see it changing much in the short to medium term.”

Mr Hart said a council tax increase was essential.

“The recovery is gathering pace week by week with record numbers of people in work and our economic growth among the best in the world, but I am very well aware that household budgets are still under strain,” he said.

“We have to balance what working families and elderly folk on fixed incomes can afford against the need to keep providing the services on which they rely.

Deputy leader and cabinet member for finance, John Clatworthy, said the Government had claimed Devon had received a 0.5 per cent increase in spending this year when in fact it was a 14 per cent reduction.

“Councils can only cope with cuts for so long,” he said.

“But it’s going to get harder before it gets better so we need to be prudent and business-like.

“I did not come into local government to see less resources available to support our communities.

“We cannot control demand for our services – or the weather. We can only control our own costs and to date our core staffing has reduced in the order of 33 per cent.

“The challenge is to deliver services to Devon residents with less resources.

“Unfortunately we consistently lose out in comparison with urban areas.

“Residents in rural areas like Devon receive some £153 less in Government support on average than urban residents and pay £79 more in council tax.

“Every child in every Devon school receives nearly £300 less than the national average.

“If we received average national funding that would be an additional £23 million.

“And under the public health heading, Devon is the seventh lowest funded authority at £29 per head against an average of £51.

“So average funding for that would bring in another £16.5 million.

“John Hart and I agree with our scrutiny colleagues that this is all inequitable and we will continue to lobby our MPs and the Government to campaign for a fairer deal for Devon and our residents.”

While there hs been a "reprieve for threatened school lollipop patrols, continued support for vulnerable people on welfare and extra winter road gritting", the authority still faces

The threat to reduce the number of lollipop patrols at the county’s schools to save £100,000 had been one of the key issues through the budget consultation process.

But council leader John Hart said he had found the extra money to continue the same level of school crossing patrols for the coming year.

But he said the council would still need to talk to schools about how they might fund the service in future years.

Mr Hart said the ending of a service to help the most vulnerable benefit claimants obtain small grants for essential household items was another issue consistently raised by councillors.

This service had been devolved to local councils by the Government which then axed the grant it had provided to pay for it.

But earlier this month the Government agreed extra funding for the coming year and the county council is topping this up to £1 million to ensure the service can continue.

There will also be an extra £100,000 to preserve road gritting routes in winter, £100,000 for transport and £40,000 for the Citizens’ Advice Bureau.

“We have held detailed consultations with representative groups across Devon, there has been a widespread public consultation and we have had our own in-house scrutiny meetings with councillors,” he said.

“They have told us what they most value and we have listened. Where we have been able to find some extra money we have done so.”