{"id":68141,"date":"2025-12-18T16:24:23","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T16:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/?p=68141"},"modified":"2025-12-18T16:24:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T16:24:27","slug":"council-warns-claims-of-23-funding-increase-are-misleading-as-government-shifts-burden-onto-council-tax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/council-warns-claims-of-23-funding-increase-are-misleading-as-government-shifts-burden-onto-council-tax\/","title":{"rendered":"Council warns claims of \u201c23% funding increase\u201d are misleading as government shifts burden onto council tax"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Devon County Council has warned that claims of a \u201c23% increase\u201d in funding for Devon are inaccurate and highly misleading, following the Government\u2019s announcement of the provisional local government finance settlement, yesterday (Wednesday 17 December).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The warning comes amid public statements suggesting a major uplift in funding for local services, based on headline figures from the Government\u2019s Core Spending Power<\/em> tables.<\/p>\n\n\n

\r\n\t
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Councillor James Buczkowski, our Cabinet Member responsible for finance, said:<\/p><\/div>\r\n \t\t

\u201cThere is a great deal of confusion being created by the way these figures are being presented. Claims of a \u201823% increase\u2019 in funding for Devon are simply not accurate and risk misleading residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\n\t
\r\n\t\t\"Councillor\r\n
\r\n Councillor James Buczkowski, Cabinet Member for Finance<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n <\/figure>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n <\/div>\n\n\n

Core Spending Power is not the same as government funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cCore Spending Power is a constructed measure,\u201d said Councillor Buczkowski. \u201cIt 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

He said this represented a continued and deliberate shift in how local services are funded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cWhat we are seeing again is the burden of funding essential local services being moved away from central government and on to local residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPresenting assumed council tax rises as if they were government funding is not transparent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Councillor Buczkowski also cautioned that Core Spending Power does not capture the full funding picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cCore 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are still working through the full detail of the provisional settlement and will share a clear analysis once all grant allocations are confirmed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

He added that the outlook for district councils across Devon was even more concerning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThe Core Spending Power figures for Devon\u2019s district councils show an even bleaker picture, reinforcing the pressure being felt across local government, not just at county level.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

We will continue to analyse the provisional settlement ahead of the final funding announcement early next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cResidents deserve honesty about how local government is funded,\u201d Councillor Buczkowski said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHeadline 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":62947,"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-68141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dcc-homepage","category-democracy"],"acf":[],"featured_image":{"ID":62947,"title":"Council Chamber","alt":"Devon County Council's council 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