This Annual Report summarises the work of the Council, areas targeted for improvement and the outcomes that the Council has delivered over the past year; together with priorities for the remainder of 2024/25.
Our vision for Devon is central to the Council’s Strategic Plan for 2021 to 2025. Since 2021 people, communities, and businesses across Devon have continued to experience financial and economic challenges. The Council’s recent focus has therefore been on becoming financially sustainable and resilient in order to continue to provide vital services to residents.
Overall, the Authority is performing well financially, and achieved a balanced outturn position for 2023/24. This is despite the ongoing challenge to meet the cost and complexity of needs of demand-led people services in the care sector, and the need to increase investment in the condition of our road infrastructure to help tackle potholes.
We have strengthened financial sustainability by:
- reviewing staff resource and best use of talent and skills
- working with providers and partners to ensure that contracts are managed to deliver best value
- maximizing income generation and full cost recovery programmes
- making best use of assets to reduce costs and, where possible, supporting community use
During 2023/24 we focused on improving engagement with families to support developing the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Improvement Plan and concluding a financial agreement with the Department for Education. With support from the government, we are working with partners and making progress with our SEND transformation programme.
In 2024/25 we are focusing on engagement with residents about our roads and transport services. Devon has one of the largest road networks in the country, with hotspots for road traffic collisions and fatalities, particularly in more deprived rural areas.
Roads and transport issues are a significant proportion of the feedback that the Council receives, and we want to understand and find solutions to people’s concerns.
The Council has responsibilities to improve and maintain the county’s infrastructure which is increasingly subject to the impacts of floods and severe weather. It is against that backdrop that in 2024/25 we will be engaging with residents about our road and transport services.
Our Team Devon partnership brings the local government family – national park authorities, parish, town, district, city, borough and county councils – together to enable a joint approach to common issues and shared challenges. All the members are working together to address environmental, economic and social wellbeing concerns and objectives.
This report shows how the Council’s staff, and all those who work on its behalf, are critical to the wellbeing of everyone in Devon. We wish to thank everyone for their support, constructive challenge and partnership.
Councillor James McInnes – Leader of Devon County Council and Donna Manson – Chief Executive, Devon County Council