WEST Devon Borough Council is to receive an extra £108,000 from the Government towards funding its services next year. But council leaders say it goes nowhere near meeting the authority?s unavoidable cost pressures of more than £900,000 for 2005/06. The council is already committed to finding savings of more than £500,000 from its annual £6.3-million budget. But, following last week?s Government announcement on its grant, it is still left with a £300,000 shortfall. Leaders blame additional Government demands for the cost pressures which, for example, include the implementation of the new Licensing Act ? expected to cost the authority an extra £60,000 a year. The Government has designated £13,000 of the extra £108,000 increase for funding the Civil Contingencies Act. Other Government initiatives including high recycling targets, the Crime and Disorder Act, e-government, and Freedom of Information must be met ? together with unavoidable inflationary costs ? from the remaining £95,000. Councillors recently met the two MPs who serve the borough, John Burnett, MP for West Devon and Torridge, and Gary Streeter, MP for South West Devon, to discuss the funding crisis. Cllr Dick Eberlie, chairman of the policy and resources committee, said: ?This is a truly disastrous settlement. It does not address the needs of the people of West Devon. ?We have had an increase in cash of less than £100,000. It does not go anywhere near meeting the demands imposed on us by the Government. ?Making more savings with a budget as small as ours is bound to lead to some very unpleasant decisions having to be made.? West Devon is one of the most sparsely populated districts in the country with a population of just under 50,000, yet it serves an area equivalent to Greater London. The impact of its small population means that the council?s capacity to raise income is limited. An extra 1% increase in council tax only raises an extra £28,000. In September, Local Government Minister Nick Raynsford was handed a letter from council leaders appealing to him to take action over the ?dire situation? the Borough faced. The council is also calling on the Government to make districts such as West Devon exempt from capping because of its special circumstances. l Although Caradon District Council?s settlement has increased by £150,000, the authority has still received the lowest increase of the six Cornish district and borough councils and continues to face serious funding pressures. Leader Cllr Ron Overd said: ?Although the extra funding will go some way towards safeguarding services and keeping council tax levels down in the coming year, we will be looking for efficiency savings to meet our commitments. ?We will be concentrating the money we have available on the things local people have told us are their priorities, such as affordable housing and good quality jobs, and also on the things we have to do by law.? Meanwhile landowners across the region have congratulated the Chancellor on taking the next step towards encouraging the production of fuel from renewable sources by announcing a reduction in duty on bioethanol. But Country Land and Business Association (CLA) south west director John Mortimer says he does not think it will be enough to kick-start an industry which is waiting to happen. ?The 20p reduction in duty will not be sufficient to enable biofuels to be competitive ? but it is a step in the right direction and we look forward to Defra?s review of other measures to encourage renewables,? he said. l Cllr Margaret Garton is the leader of the Independent group on West Devon Borough Council, not Cllr Peter Hill, as started in last week?s Times. Cllr Hill is the vice-chairman of the council?s policy and resources committee.
