Devon County Council has warned that claims of a “23% increase” in funding for Devon are inaccurate and highly misleading, following the Government’s announcement of the provisional local government finance settlement, yesterday (Wednesday 17 December).
The warning comes amid public statements suggesting a major uplift in funding for local services, based on headline figures from the Government’s Core Spending Power tables.
Councillor James Buczkowski, our Cabinet Member responsible for finance, said:
“There is a great deal of confusion being created by the way these figures are being presented. Claims of a ‘23% increase’ in funding for Devon are simply not accurate and risk misleading residents.
“That figure is a cumulative Core Spending Power measure over several years. It is not a year-on-year increase, and it is not new money being provided by government to the County Council.”
Core Spending Power is not the same as government funding.
“Core Spending Power is a constructed measure,” said Councillor Buczkowski. “It combines central government grant with assumed increases in local council tax, based on councils raising tax to the maximum permitted level and achieving very high collection rates.
“For Devon, the year-on-year increase shown in Core Spending Power is around 5%, and that is driven largely by these council tax assumptions rather than by any significant uplift in core government grant.”
He said this represented a continued and deliberate shift in how local services are funded.
“What we are seeing again is the burden of funding essential local services being moved away from central government and on to local residents.
“Presenting assumed council tax rises as if they were government funding is not transparent.
“It effectively forces councils to increase council tax just to stand still, while allowing ministers to claim funding increases that are not being delivered through grant.”
Councillor Buczkowski also cautioned that Core Spending Power does not capture the full funding picture.
“Core Spending Power does not include all of the grants Devon County Council receives, and it takes no account of the real cost pressures councils face, including inflation, rising demand, and statutory responsibilities.
“We are still working through the full detail of the provisional settlement and will share a clear analysis once all grant allocations are confirmed.”
He added that the outlook for district councils across Devon was even more concerning.
“The Core Spending Power figures for Devon’s district councils show an even bleaker picture, reinforcing the pressure being felt across local government, not just at county level.”
We will continue to analyse the provisional settlement ahead of the final funding announcement early next year.
“Residents deserve honesty about how local government is funded,” Councillor Buczkowski said.
“Headline claims may be politically convenient, but they do not reflect the reality councils are facing or the growing reliance on council tax to fund essential services.”