CORNWALL Council has welcomed the Chancellor’s budget announcements of additional one-off funding, but warned that austerity is not over.

Cornwall Council Leader Adam Paynter, Liberal Democrat ward member for Launceston North and North Petherwin, said the budget would provide some additional funding to Cornwall, but stressed that this was negligible compared to the savings the council had been forced to deliver due to reductions in Central Government funding over the last decade.

“Cornwall has some of highest levels of deprivation in the country. To say austerity is over is insulting to the people who live here and struggle day in and day out.The reality is Cornwall will be dealing with the consequences of Central Government funding cuts and austerity for years to come, and [the] budget won’t rectify that. With core Central Government funding slashed from £150-million four years ago to £14-million next year, Cornwall Council is planning for the need to be self-sufficient from April 2022.

“In order to achieve this, we will need to fund vital services ourselves through council tax, business rates and charging for services, as well as finding new and efficient ways to deliver those services differently.

“This is why we felt we needed to propose a 1.99% increase in council tax in our most recent budget proposal, with an additional 2% precept for adult social care services to fund increasing demand.

“While we welcome any additional funding, the people of Cornwall are not going to have the wool pulled over their eyes — the reality is that local government is being forced to deliver more and more services funded by local residents.

“We’d expect to Cornwall to receive less than one per cent of the of £650-million announced for social care next year, and about the same share of the £420-million to fix potholes, although we won’t know the exact amounts until later.”

Extra funding for schools, disabilities facilities and children’s social care are also expected to see small amounts of funding provided to Cornwall. Cllr Paynter also said that, despite the budget not signalling an end to austerity, he remains ambitious for Cornwall.

“I would like to accelerate the dialogue with Government on further devolution to Cornwall as articulated in our New Frontiers document, ensuring that more services for our residents are directed by local decision making rather than decisions in Whitehall. As the only rural area to have negotiated a devolution deal, with the challenges that we face it is more important than ever that decisions that affect our residents are taken locally.”