Please advise:
1. The total payments from your General Fund to your Pension Fund in the financial year 2024/25 and the burden of this cost measured as a proportion of the Council Tax revenue this consumed.
There are many sources of income for the Authority – as shown on page 9 of the unaudited Statement of Accounts for 2024/25, where Council Tax accounts for £533.5 million of a total income of £1.65 billion.
Council tax is used to meet the net revenue budget – it is not allocated to individual lines of expenditure, employer contributions or otherwise.
The Devon County Council budget books can be seen at Budget
Total payments from the Authority’s General fund in 2024/25 to the Pension Fund were £50.346 million.
Payments from the Authority’s General Fund to the Pension Fund as a percentage of total income is 3.1%.
2. Any estimate for the total payments from your General Fund to your Pension Fund in the current financial year and the burden of this cost measured as a proportion of the Council Tax revenue this is expected to consume.
The actuary estimated that employer pension contributions in 2025/26 would be £50.587 million. Total income for the Authority has yet to be calculated for the purposes of the Statement of Accounts 2025/26 but it is expected that payments from the Authority’s General Fund to the Pension Fund as a percentage of total income would remain approximately the same as 2024/25 – at around 3%.
3. The total payments from your General Fund for debt interest in the financial year 2024/25 and the burden of this cost measured as a proportion of the Council Tax revenue this consumed.
Debt interest in the financial year 2024/25 amounted to £26.037 million and is 1.6% of total income.
4. Any estimate for the total payments from your General Fund for debt interest in the current financial year and the burden of this cost measured as a proportion of the Council Tax revenue this is expected to consume.
Estimated debt interest for 2025/26 is £26.6 million and is expected to remain around 1.6% of total income.