DEVON County Council’s Cabinet is proposing a 10.5 per cent increase in the budget to fund vital services for the most vulnerable children and adults, as well as more cash to tackle potholes.

There will be increases of 18.4 per cent in spending on children’s services and 8.8 per cent on adult services to keep up with a rocketing rise in demand.

And since the target budget was set last month, the council has allocated an extra £2 million to tackle the increase in potholes caused by this winter’s icy spells and torrential rainfall.

Council Leader, Councillor John Hart said: “We fully recognise the strain that household budgets are under with soaring inflation and big rises in the cost of living.

“But we must look after the young, the old and the vulnerable and they account for some 79 per cent of this budget.”

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Phil Twiss said: “The cost of living and geopolitical situation has created huge financial pressures nationally.

“Consequently, we have faced unprecedented price and demand pressures in the current year and although significant savings have been found to offset this, many have been one off measures.

“It has been a very difficult budget to deliver but we’ve asked how can we make council taxpayers’ money work better for them and cut wastage in the system, and the savings strategies are tough but realistic.”