East Devon Watch has reported the failed bid extensively over the past few weeks.

According to accounts on Social Media Devon only received an increase of 2.1% from the government in its financial settlement, the lowest of any county council .(Plymouth and Torbay got 15%.)

We seem to be stuck with a Tory Council and Labour government both of which are “out of touch”. The first with the new political reality and the second with anything smelling of the countryside.

Roll on the May elections. – Owl

See these two reports:

Second homes cash helping plug gaps left by grant cut

Bradley Gerrard, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk 

Devon County Council’s County Hall headquarters in Exeter (Image courtesy: LDRS/Will Goddard

Millions of pounds from extra council tax levied on second homes in Devon is set to help fund services.

Councils across the county are expected to earn around £16 million when council tax doubles on second homes in some areas from April, with different amounts going to the various councils.

The county council is likely to get the lion’s share, which could be nearly £15 million if it approves a 4.99 per cent council tax increase in April.

But district councils claim it is unfair that most of the revenue will go to the county, when districts have responsibility for housing.

Councillors including Julian Brazil (Liberal Democrat, Kingsbridge) and Frank Biederman (Fremington Rural), who recently gave up his independent status to join the Lib Dems, believe because the money is levied on properties, it should be spent helping to provide affordable housing.

However Devon’s cabinet said £4 million would go to highways, £5 million to children’s services, and “more money than planned” would go to help tackle homelessness.

At Devon County Council’s cabinet meeting last week Cllr Phil Twiss (Conservative, Feniton and Honiton) noted that income from second homes helped replace more than £10 million previously coming from a rural services delivery grant, which the government cut in December.

Cllr Twiss added that the county had received the worst financial settlement from central government of the 21 county councils.

“It is not a nice statistic, and we are well below the national average,” he said.

“We are an overwhelmingly rural county and so there are additional costs to delivering services, so it is particularly disappointing that the government has removed the rural services grant.”

Devon County Council under ‘stress’ as reserves under fire

Bradley Gerrard www.exmouthjournal.co.uk

Devon County Council is heading for “increased financial stress” with its reserves shrinking.

A budget report for Devon County Council’s cabinet last week stressed that the local authority is “not at immediate risk of financial failure” but that this is a “growing threat for the medium term” if it keeps spending its reserves at the same rate as the past four years.

Councils are required by law to set balanced budgets, and while the Conservative-led administration has adopted a mantra of ‘living within our means’, it has had to lean on its savings in recent years.

It is now in last place out of the 21 county councils in England for the robustness of its reserves.

The report said three measures – reserves sustainability, level of reserves and change in reserves – have been reclassified from ‘increasing risk’ to ‘high risk’.

“In absolute cash terms, Devon now has the second lowest level of usable reserves [of the 21 county councils],” the report said.

The council had £222 million of reserves in March 2021 but this fell to £125 million at March last year.

By the end of the current financial year in April, a further £20 million of reserves is expected to be spent, mostly to support something called the safety valve scheme.

This initiative grants councils government money to help tackle overspends linked to special educational needs and disabilities (Send) budgets.

Devon’s Send deficit is estimated to hit a cumulative £132 million in the next few weeks, potentially rising to nearly £163 million by March next year.

That is in spite of the safety valve scheme awarding Devon £95 million over nine years, as long the council cuts its Send deficit and reducing costs.

The Send deficit is legally separated from its main finances, but the legislation allowing this runs out in March 2026.

Cllr Julian Brazil (Liberal Democrat, Kingsbridge) highlighted the issue of the Send deficit at the cabinet meeting.

He said that the children’s scrutiny committee had been told previously the Send deficit is expected to rise by £14 million, but that the budget papers now concede is likely to increase by £44 million.

“There’s no explanation or anything in the summary about why this has happened, and I appreciate the council thinks scrutiny is a waste of time, but I think it is going too far that the budget presented to children’s scrutiny has changed by tens of millions of pounds, and you haven’t had the courtesy to tell scrutiny what has gone on,” he said.

Angie Sinclair, the council’s finance director, said her department is still undertaking modelling to predict the financial outcome for the year.