South Hams District Council are asking people to complete a questionnaire as they propose to increase Council Tax by 3.2 per cent.

South Hams District Council is currently forecasting a £0.64m budget gap by 2019/20. Next year in 2018/19, the council will receive no Revenue Support Grant from the Government and the council will need to be self-sufficient.

South Hams District Council proposes to increase council tax for 2018/19 by £5 per year, representing an increase of 3.2 per cent. This would mean a Band D property would pay £160.42 to SHDC in Council Tax for the year, with the rest going to Devon County Council, Police and Fire authorities and your local Town or Parish council.

Other questions in the survey include South Hams District Council proposing to increase car parking charges by two per cent, reducing grants and payments made to partners who “deliver non-statutory services” and “investigating the viability” of developing property assets for “community and economic benefit”.

The Local Government Association said: “Councils, which have already experienced unprecedented funding cuts since 2010, will see their central government funding further cut by £2.7 billion between 2018/19 and 2019/20 – a 54 per cent reduction.

“Almost half of all councils - 168 districts, counties, unitaries and London boroughs – will no longer receive a penny of this government funding by 2019/20. Instead, they will actually have to give some extra business rates income back to the Government.

“The pace of these funding cuts was intended by government to coincide with local government as a whole keeping 100 per cent of its business rates income by 2019/20.

“These plans will no longer be in place by the end of the decade and remain in doubt after the Local Government Finance Bill, which was passing through parliament before the General Election, was not reintroduced in the Queen’s Speech.”

Over the last ten years from 2009/10 to 2019/20, SHDC’s core government funding will have reduced by £4 million.

As part of the annual budget setting process, South Hams and West Devon Councils have a statutory duty to consult with businesses on the Councils’ Budget Proposals for the next financial year.

A representative of SHDC said: “The council would like to capture the views of businesses electronically, as we did last year, and we have designed a short questionnaire with five questions for this purpose.

“We would be grateful if you could spare five minutes to share your thoughts. The survey will close on Friday, February 16, and the results will be shared with all councillors.”

You can find the questionnaire at: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ZVNSG3F