Report from James McInnes Devon County Council Autumn 2024

Autumn Update Hatherleigh and Chagford Division

Devon County Councils finances are stable with month 4 projection for the end of the financial year being at £6.2 million overspend, of a £743 million net budget. This is the lowest I can remember at this stage and will come into balance by the end of the financial year. This is the result of our tight financial management. Nearly 79% of the budget goes to Adult and Children’s services, the national average is 75%. Making DCC financially sustainable for the longer term is a key priority for us. It is clear there is no magic pot of money coming over the horizon, so we have to continue to modernise how the Council operates. We have been holding a series of management days, with managers from all parts of the Council getting together to understand areas they are not familiar with, to break down silo working and appreciate the issues the Council is facing.   Delivering services to residents is the theme through all of this. DCC employs about 5200 full time equivalents.

Adult Services is continuing to perform well and has an increasing focus on prevention, working with partners like the NHS & Voluntary and Community Sector. The Adult budget is £360 million and nearly half goes to adults of working age with disability. We are fortunate in Devon, the quality of our providers for Care is good, with the majority being rated Good or Outstanding.

Children’s Services is improving and an ofsted inspection is imminent. We are seeing a reduction in the number of children coming into care and a reduction in the number of children being placed outside the County. Extra investment in Early Help is starting to work. The Children’s Services budget is £278 million excluding schools.

SEND is one of the biggest issues facing Local Government nationally and Devon is no exception. We were fortunate in securing a Safety Valve Deal with government, earlier in the year. This will help us bring the SEND budget into balance over the next 8 years. A big challenge but one we have to meet.

Highways is always the issue I get most correspondence about, potholes!! I fully appreciate the frustration many motorist/cyclist have. To give some context since 2010 we have seen a considerable reduction in the amount Central Government has invested in roads, in real terms, including inflation. This year we have invested an additional £12 million in highways, which has resulted in more patching and white lining, not the answer but a start, and we intend making similar investment in future years. We are also using new products like Elastomac which is partly make up of old tyres. It’s very durable and stays in the pothole. Always report a pothole and don’t assume it has been reported. www.devon.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/report-a-problem/report-a-pothole/ 

Last week we heard from Central Government that our Devolution Deal has been accepted. We submitted our proposal with Torbay earlier in the year to the previous government. This means our proposal has met the test of two governments. The CCA (County Combined Authority) is a high level strategic Board that will implement the devolved powers with funding that are transferred to the CCA from government. The Board is made up of Members of Devon, Torbay and District Council representatives. This does not change the independent status of DCC or Torbay. We are getting powers around strategic transport infrastructure, giving us a direct line into government to influence what’s needed. The Adult Training budget is devolved, which will allow the CCA to upskill the workforce across DCC & Torbay, which will have long term benefits for the economy. An Economic Advisory Board had been set up, made up of business men and women form across DCC & Torbay to advise the CCA. There is also £16 million of new money for 16 projects across our 8 Districts Councils and Torbay. Focusing on housing and green infrastructure. We have also indicated to government that we would welcome Plymouth joining in the future, if they wanted to.

There is still some money in the Locality Budget and I would recommend applications are in by the end of 2024.

Please come back if I can help with any issues.

Regards James

James McInnes
Councillor for the Hatherleigh & Chagford Division
Devon County Council
07817123391
www.devon.gov.uk