Councils are being ‘stuffed over’ by government says North Devon leader

The leader of North Devon Council has warned of difficult decisions to be made over the next two years as local councils continue to be ‘stuffed over’ by the government.

Councillor David Clayton made the statement as North Devon Council heard it faces a real-terms funding reduction of 10% due to inflation and changing council finances as district and county councils are set to be scrapped within two years.

Council tax in the district will increase by the maximum of 2.99% in order to balance the budget from April. This means a £6.48 increase for the year on a Band D property to £223.16.

The district council’s part of the council tax makes up 9% of the total council tax bill with the police (11%), fire and rescue services (four per cent), parish and town councils (4%) and Devon County Council (72%) making up the rest.

Above: North Devon Council leader David Clayton has said councils are being 'stuffed over' due to parsimonious government funding. Credit: NDC 

Finance officers for the council have managed to close a forecasted budget gap for 2026-27 of £1.6million, but have warned of it opening to £2.3m by 2028-29.

Councillors agreed a balanced budget which included the council tax rise (accounting for £8.6m of the revenue budget of £20.6m), trade waste collection charges increasing by 46% and a £5 increase in the annual garden waste collection fee.

A £27.7m capital programme for projects was also agreed with 40% of the funding coming from external grants. The council’s borrowing levels will be around £13.2.

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As with all councils, North Devon has to find the finances to fund transitioning to new authorities under the forthcoming local government reorganisation and has set aside £175,000 over the two years to do this.

The shake-up means that all district councils and the county council in Devon will be abolished in 2028 and replaced with unitary councils covering larger areas but responsible for all local services.

The full council heard that despite a ‘fairer’ funding review by the government, less significance had been given to rural areas as the ‘political steer’ included a greater focus on deprivation.

At a national level the settlement, now over three years instead of one, delivers a 5.7% increase in core spending power from 2025-26 but North Devon has seen a reduction of 4.6%.

Taking inflation into account there was a real terms funding cut of 10 per cent between 2026 and 2029, the council was told.

Cllr Clayton said: “It’s not a matter of politics, because whether the Tories or Labour are in power local government seems to have been stuffed over since I have been involved.

“It’s not good – the result is all around us, I know we are not in control of potholes, but this is what happens when you have to make cutbacks.

“That is why we have to be quite specific and perhaps look at non statutory services in the future and see which ones we will have to make some serious decisions about.

“There is not an easy answer, I’ve not got a magic wand, will it be better under a unitary authority? Probably not, it needs urgent action from central government.”

He added they had to make sure North Devon Council delivered the best service it could with a limited budget over the next two years, whilst at the same time influencing the government to make changes.

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The council made a U-turn in February after huge local opposition to its proposal to cut the non-statutory trade waste collections which had been running for two decades. Instead it has raised collection charges by nearly 50% to cover costs.

The council has been asked to look at more commercial avenues to raise income after the success of Green Lanes shopping centre which it bought in 2021 and has brought in a £1m return since then.

Despite a downturn in rental income over the past year and empty units as a result of River Island closing its store, chief finance officer Jon Triggs said officers were in discussion with potential new tenants.