The Government’s final local government funding settlement continues a long-term shift away from national funding, placing increasing reliance on council tax to pay for essential local services.
While Devon’s Core Spending Power rises over the period of the settlement, the detail shows that most of this increase is driven by assumed council tax rises rather than additional government grant. In effect, local taxpayers are being expected to shoulder the cost of maintaining services.
Since 2015, Devon’s reliance on council tax to fund frontline services has grown steadily as central government funding has failed to keep pace with rising demand and costs. This pattern is particularly acute for rural authorities like Devon, where delivering services across large geographic areas brings additional pressure.
Devon County Council continues to face significant structural challenges, especially in adult social care, support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, and the cost of providing services across a large and largely rural county.
Under the settlement, councils are permitted to increase council tax by up to 4.99 per cent a year, including the adult social care precept. Any increase above this level would require a local referendum.
The late publication of this year’s final settlement has added uncertainty, with councils required to finalise budgets at a very late stage in the process.
Councillor James Buczkowski, Cabinet Member for Finance, said:
“This settlement leans heavily on council tax, particularly for counties like Devon.
“While some reforms are welcome, the funding still does not fully reflect the real cost of delivering vital frontline services across a rural area.
“We will continue to manage our finances carefully, but we will also keep pressing Government to properly fund local services rather than shifting more of the burden onto local taxpayers.”
Our Cabinet will consider the proposed budget at its meeting on Tuesday 17 February, with Full Council asked to formally approve the budget on Tuesday 24 February.