Council says Whitehall should foot the £4m bill for ‘botched’ attempt to redraw Devon council map
Devon County Council claims £4m has been lost due to costs and staff time and resources diverted to trying to implement the now-stalled council restructure plans for the county
The government has been called on to reimburse Devon a claimed £4million in costs following the ‘botched’ attempt at restructuring the region’s councils.
Devon County Council says Whitehall should to meet the financial impact of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) because council finances after under pressure according to its latest budget review.
The council said its Month 6 budget report identifies £1.4m in direct costs from reorganisation and £2.3m in savings that have not happened “because staff and resources were diverted into the work.”
The government has announced £1.8m for the whole Devon area, but the county council says there is still no assurance that its full costs will be reimbursed.
The decision to split Devon into four new larger councils and scrap district and county councils was put on hold early in September and last month the government essentially said it would go back to the drawing board, so the original proposal may not even happen.
That plan would have seen expanded Plymouth, Exeter and Torbay councils as new unitary authorities with the majority of the rest of the county put into one ‘Devon Council’.
Devon County Council said its latest figures forecast a £8.2m overspend this year, an improvement of £608,000 since its previous forecast.
Adult social care remains the biggest pressure, with a forecast £8.8m overspend, although the council said this has improved by £1.2m since the summer.
It said it expects to deliver £30.8m of the £38.3m savings planned for this year.
Councillor James Buczkowski, cabinet member for finance and public value, said: “The financial impact identified so far (from LGR) is almost £4m, with £1.4m in direct costs and £2.3m in savings not delivered because resources were diverted into reorganisation work.
“But the consequences extend well beyond the bill.
“Officers who should have been concentrating on improving services, delivering transformation and managing the pressures we have discussed were required to prepare for the Government’s chosen reorganisation. That decision was then paused and subsequently withdrawn.
“We should be unequivocal. Devon’s residents should not be left paying for the government’s botched handling of LGR through further pressure on local services.
“The government should stop this process permanently, reimburse the costs its handling has imposed and give Devon’s councils the certainty they need to concentrate fully on serving our residents.”
The council said it remains focused on “tackling spending pressures, delivering savings and protecting the services residents rely on.”
It is calling on the government to meet the costs of reorganisation thus far and “end the uncertainty that is diverting resources from those priorities and undermining long-term planning.”