{"id":67440,"date":"2025-10-10T10:17:51","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T09:17:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/?p=67440"},"modified":"2025-10-13T17:03:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T16:03:18","slug":"devon-county-council-welcomes-national-report-supporting-protection-of-vital-care-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/devon-county-council-welcomes-national-report-supporting-protection-of-vital-care-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Devon County Council welcomes national report supporting protection of vital care services"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Senior councillors at Devon County Council have welcomed a major new report from the County Councils Network (CCN), which warns that breaking up county councils into smaller unitary authorities could seriously harm the delivery of essential care services.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The report, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.countycouncilsnetwork.org.uk\/make-or-break-for-social-care-as-councils-warn-of-a-triple-whammy-of-risks-from-government-reorganisation-plans\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Local Government Reorganisation: Analysing the Impact on People Services<\/a><\/em>, provides strong evidence that larger councils are better equipped to deliver high-quality adult social care, children\u2019s services, and support for people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). It highlights risks including increased costs, reduced service quality, and challenges in recruiting senior care staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Devon\u2019s lead option for reorganisation proposes replacing all eight district, city and borough councils, along with Devon County Council, with a single new unitary authority covering the current county footprint &#8211; avoiding fragmentation of care services. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"block_acf-block-68ed22c318055\" class=\"councillor-quote align-right dcc grid-x\">\r\n\t<blockquote class=\"councillor-quote-blockquote medium-auto small-12 cell\">\r\n                    <div class=\"councillor-quote-title\"><p>Councillor Paul Arnott, Portfolio Holder for Local Government Reorganisation, said:\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\r\n        \t\t<div class=\"councillor-quote-text\"><p><!-- wp:paragraph --><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\u201cThis report indicates that maintaining a unified council structure at scale is vital to protect the services on which our most vulnerable residents rely.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t<\/blockquote>\r\n        <div class=\"councillor-quote-aside medium-auto small-12 cell\">\r\n\t<figure class=\"councillor-quote-image grid-x\">\r\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"small-6 cell medium-12\" src=\"https:\/\/democracy.devon.gov.uk\/UserData\/2\/9\/5\/Info00011592\/bigpic.jpg\" alt=\"Councillor Paul Arnott\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\r\n        <figcaption class=\"councillor-quote-description small-6 cell medium-12\" >\r\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/democracy.devon.gov.uk\/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=11592\" rel=\"noopener\">Councillor Paul Arnott, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Local Government Reorganisation and Water Quality<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n            <\/figure>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    \r\n    <\/div>\n\n\n<p>Key findings from the report include:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Councils with populations below 500,000 could face up to \u00a3270 million in extra annual care costs.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Smaller councils may need up to 1,100 additional senior care staff, costing \u00a395 million.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Larger councils are more likely to receive \u2018Good\u2019 or \u2018Outstanding\u2019 Ofsted ratings.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fragmentation could lead to legal disputes over care responsibilities.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div id=\"block_acf-block-68ed22c318083\" class=\"councillor-quote align-right dcc grid-x\">\r\n\t<blockquote class=\"councillor-quote-blockquote medium-auto small-12 cell\">\r\n                    <div class=\"councillor-quote-title\"><p>Councillor Richard Keeling, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health Services, said:<\/p><\/div>\r\n        \t\t<div class=\"councillor-quote-text\"><p><!-- wp:paragraph --><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph -->\u201cSmaller councils are more vulnerable to demand pressures and financial instability. Devon\u2019s preferred model keeps services together and protects quality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t<\/blockquote>\r\n        <div class=\"councillor-quote-aside medium-auto small-12 cell\">\r\n\t<figure class=\"councillor-quote-image grid-x\">\r\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"small-6 cell medium-12\" src=\"https:\/\/democracy.devon.gov.uk\/UserData\/8\/7\/5\/Info00011578\/bigpic.jpg\" alt=\"Councillor Richard Keeling\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\r\n        <figcaption class=\"councillor-quote-description small-6 cell medium-12\" >\r\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/democracy.devon.gov.uk\/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=11578\" rel=\"noopener\">Councillor Richard Keeling, Cabinet Member for Adults Services<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n            <\/figure>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    \r\n    <\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Councillor Arnott added:&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cI remain sad that the government has forced us to abolish the districts and county councils. However, it became our statutory duty to engage in a full analysis and an extensive consultation with key partners and sectors across Devon, while listening hard to what the public have been telling us during public engagement events across the county. This authoritative report now backs the emerging concept that it is in the best interest of the people of Devon to move to one single unitary council.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>As well as protecting vital front line care services, the council\u2019s lead option would see a network of local neighbourhood area committees, each comprising a range of representatives, including town and parish councils, health, police, voluntary and business sectors, as well as councillors from the new unitary authority. Those local neighbourhood committees would have decision-making powers and budgets to improve local services for each community.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cThese area committees will be crucial to ensuring that democracy is protected where you live,\u201d <strong>Cllr Arnott added.<\/strong> \u201cWe would like to know what the public think of our lead option, and will be seeking their views on this specific option.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe will also be discussing the lead option at Full Council in November before submitting the council\u2019s final proposal to Government on 28 November.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Residents can find out more about the proposals and give their views via the council\u2019s community engagement website here: <a href=\"https:\/\/devoncountycouncil.commonplace.is\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Have Your Say Today &#8211; New Devon &#8211; Your Say On Our Future &#8211; Commonplace<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":67442,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[24,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dcc-homepage","category-democracy"],"acf":[],"featured_image":{"ID":67442,"title":"Devon map LGR news page","alt":"A map of Devon showing the areas of Torbay and Plymouth unitary councils, and the remainder of Devon which is served currently by District Councils and Devon County 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