DEVON County Council has agreed an increase of 1.99 per cent in council tax bills.

The increase will support spending of over £500 million including a reprieve for threatened school lollipop patrols, continued support for vulnerable people on welfare and extra winter road gritting.

There will also be an extra £100,000 to cushion bus service cuts and £40,000 for the Citizens’ Advice Bureau.

The council tax increase will bring in an extra £6.2 million over the next year to help safeguard services.

But the budget still calls for reductions of £46 million as a result of a 14 per cent cut in Government funding.

Council leader John Hart said: “This is my sixth budget and on each occasion I have had to propose a reduction in spending for the forthcoming year.

“This budget is framed to protect statutory services for the most vulnerable in the county.

“Our finances are stretched and we will need all the people in the county to work with us in community activities to deliver some or all of the services that we will no longer be able to provide.”

Mr Hart said the Conservative administration had taken note of the detailed consultations there had been throughout the budget process.

In the Tough Choices consultations, over three quarters of respondents had backed a modest council tax rise to prevent even harsher cuts while 55 per cent said they were satisfied with the way Devon County Council had managed the tough choices.

He said he had given these figures to the county’s MPs as evidence that local councils were the most effective and efficient branch of government.

“That’s why there is a need to devolve power down to the regions in the same way that power is being devolved to Scotland,” he said.

The council tax increase for 2015/16 will add less than 50p a week to the average bill but will prevent even tougher cuts in hard-pressed services.

An average Band D taxpayer will now pay £1,161.27 for county council services – up £22.68 on last year.

Both Mr Hart and deputy leader John Clatworthy issued a stark warning about the future.

“Don’t expect any change after the General Election, no matter who wins,” said Mr Hart.

“All the main political parties are committed to keeping the current spending plans for the next two years and for Devon that means at least £34 million will have to be saved next year.

“I would say we are between a rock and a hard place and the gap is getting bigger every year.

“We have to find the money to provide the services we are legally obliged to provide but there is very little left to do what we would like to do.

“And I can’t see it changing much in the short to medium term.”

Deputy leader and Cabinet member for finance, John Clatworthy, said: “The challenge is to deliver services to Devon residents with less resources.

“Unfortunately we consistently lose out in comparison with urban areas.

“Residents in rural areas like Devon receive some £153 less in Government support on average than urban residents and pay £79 more in council tax.

“Every child in every Devon school receives nearly £300 less than the national average.

“If we received average national funding that would be an additional £23 million.

“And under the public health heading, Devon is the seventh lowest funded authority at £29 per head against an average of £51.

“So average funding for that would bring in another £16.5 million.

“John Hart and I agree this is inequitable and we will continue to lobby our MPs and the Government to campaign for a fairer deal for Devon and our residents.”

NOTE: The top three priority services in the Tough Choices public consultations were community care services for older people and those with physical disabilities, safeguarding vulnerable children and residential and nursing care for older people and those with physical disabilities.

The lowest priority services were trading standards, economic development, school transport, countryside, heritage and arts and streetlights.

The top three community priorities were support for vulnerable individuals and families to prevent neglect and harm, appropriate community support and care for older people and maintaining major road networks.

The lowest priorities were supporting home to school transport, supporting Devon's cultural heritage, and supporting healthy lifestyles.

Respondents said they felt they ‘fairly strongly’ belonged to their local community, with almost 60 per cent thinking communities could play a bigger role in the running of local services.

Suggestions that Devon County Council could help communities with seed funding, buildings, training, and signposting were supported by around half the respondents.