James McInnes: Why you'll be paying more tax this year

It's been 20 years since I was first elected to Devon County Council and the budget we have just put to bed is possibly the most difficult we have delivered in those two decades.

After the years of austerity and the continuing effects of Covid, we have stripped all the excess spending out of our finances and - like local government everywhere - we really are down to the bare bones.

The financial support we received from the Labour Government this year was the lowest of all 21 county councils.

And on top of that the Government decided to end the Rural Services Delivery Grant which supported councils like Devon with the extra cost of providing services in rural areas.

This cost us over £10 million with funding switched to more urban areas with greater obvious deprivation.

That meant our dedicated finance staff had to go back to the drawing board to ensure we had a budget that would balance instead of one with a huge hole in it - thanks to a decision made hundreds of miles away by a Government that keeps on proving it has little grasp of the realities of rural life.

So I am pleased that Devon's director of finance was able to certify that the budget we passed by 38 votes to four is both robust and deliverable.

It means our revenue spending for 2025/26  will rise by an overall 5.9 per cent to £784.1  million.

There will be increases of 8.2 percent on adult social care and 5.5  percent for children’s services to keep up with the rocketing demand for our help.

And between setting the target budget early in January and finalising it, we have been able to allocate an extra £4 million to highways for road repairs, drainage work and fixing potholes. We've been able to do this using some of the money that has been raised by the new additional council tax being levied on second homes.

All of this comes at a cost to you as council taxpayers, I'm afraid. Every year we have to strike a balance between an ever-increasing demand for our services, which requires more expenditure, and levying a council tax which is fair and just.

But our budget includes savings of £21.7 million so you can be sure we have done our very best to ensure we get the best value for every pound of yours we spend, cut out wastage and embraced new ways of working and technology that will reduce costs.

We've consulted with the unions, business, representatives of older people and voluntary and community groups and the budget has been examined by our all-party scrutiny committees.

Our council tax increase for general services will be 2.99 per cent and we have decided to take up the Government's offer of levying another two per cent to help pay for adult social care.

That 4.99 per cent equates to an extra £85.59 increase on the average Band D home or £1.64 more a week. To put it in some sort of context, my Sunday newspaper costs me £4.50

Devon County Council provides services to around 800,000 people and some 80 per cent of our spending goes on the young, the old and the vulnerable.

You may ask why we have agreed to any increase at all. Unlike national Government, which can borrow to finance current spending, we have to set a balanced budget by law. So we have to strike a careful balance between making cuts to our services and asking you to pay more. I believe we have got the balance right.