Council tax in Devon will rise by 3.99% as part of a budget that will see more money spent on children’s services, adult social care and roads, writes local democracy reporter Daniel Clark.

The 2019/20 budget provides an extra £11.5-million, a 9.4% rise, to be spent on hard-pressed children services, extra spending on adult care and health of £4.5-million or 2% and the budget rises for community, health and environment and highways and infrastructure.

The budget, which will see spending on services rise from £479.4-million to almost £494-million, was voted for by the ruling Conservatives and the opposition Labour group, with the Liberal Democrats and the independent group voting against it.

But the extra spending will be partly paid for by an increase of 3.99 % in council tax.

The rise encompasses a 2.99% hike for general services and an extra 1% dedicated solely to adult social care.

It means Devon residents will have to fork out an extra £53.10 on their average Band D council tax bill – just over £1 a week to take the annual Band D charge for Devon’s services to £1,384.29.

Proposing the budget, Cllr John Hart, leader of the council, said: ‘This budget will protect statutory services and support the most vulnerable in the county. It is a good budget for the people of Devon. Our social care support for children and our services for children with special needs and disabilities are facing unprecedented demand, and our health and social care services for adults continue to be under immense pressure both in Devon and nationally.

‘We have always said our priority is to protect the most vulnerable in our society and I believe this budget will help to do that. Our proposed increase will mean an extra £1 a week for the average Band D household and I believe that is justifiable so we can both maintain the services we provide and endeavour to improve them.’

Cllr Stuart Barker, portfolio holder for corporate services, added that it was a reluctant decision, but a necessary one, to put up council tax to help fund the spending, saying: ‘We are committed to doing what matters to the people of Devon.’

Cllr Rob Hannaford, leader of the Labour group, said that yet again the budget meeting had been seen in the wider context of austerity, saying: ‘For far too long we in local government have been treated with contempt, disregard and an utter lack of respect from national government.’

He added though that his group were going to vote in support of the budget. He said: ‘We are doing this in the full knowledge that we desperately need more funding, especially in areas, such as school underfunding that has now got worse.

‘But to be frank, if we were over the border in Somerset, or in Torbay, with savage cuts, service removals, and yet more closures, we would certainly be voting against.

‘But we cannot and will not vote against this huge amount of new investment going into children’s services, highways and infrastructure, and adult services. In so many areas this looks and feels like a Labour budget, with Labour values, and Labour aims, so with that said we give our qualified support.’

Cllr Hannaford though did seek to amend the budget to spend an additional £6.5-million from reserves on prevention work, strategic investment, spend to save measures, early help, efficiency gains, and inclusion projects, including £1-million for economic development work, £2-million for schools and £900,000 for sustainable transport projects around Exeter.

Cllr Alan Connett, leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, did not support the budget, and said: ‘The Prime Minister promised an end to austerity but the truth is that here in Devon we continue to be short-changed by this government. There are huge difficulties for us because we are becoming a just about managing council.’

He proposed an amendment to the budget that would have seen a further £2.4-million invested in frontline services, including £500,000 in rural buses and £400,000 in mental health services for youngsters.

He said that better efficiency and cost cutting at County Hall would free-up vital cash to put into frontline services and support rural communities, with the money chopped from budgets for hiring expensive consultants and stand-in managers, cutting back on car allowances and mileage payments and room hire costs.

Cllr Frank Biederman, leader of the Independent group, said he would not support the budget as £7-million was being proposed to put into reserves rather than where it is needed in the community.

Cllr Claire Wright said that the Conservative Government’s austerity programme had meant its core funding to Devon had plummeted to just over half a million pounds this year, a drop of over £100-million to the council since 2010 when austerity began.

She added: ‘We have seen cuts made over the past nine years become cuts on top of cuts on top of cuts.

‘These relentless cuts are beyond reprehensible and are as a result of hardline, short-sighted, ideological politics, especially when one takes into account the tens of billions of pounds currently being spent on a totally unnecessary Brexit. I will vote against the budget and against austerity.’

Amendments to the budget suggested by the Labour and Liberal Democrats were defeated. The budget, as proposed by the Conservatives, was approved by 46 votes to nine.

County treasurer Mary Davis had previously said that even with the increases on spending in the budget, it would be hard to deliver against rapidly rising demand for services, especially as Devon’s Government grant had been cut by £13.5-million for 2019/20, equivalent to 11.7%.

But Cllr Hart pleaded with the Government to allow councils to do more. He said: ‘Local government is the most efficient part of government and I do wish they would trust us more and give us the tools to support our residents better.’