South Hams Council’s leader has pledged to lobby the government for more cash after its annual settlement left the council disappointed.

The government has launched a consultation on the figures after announcing its intentions for council funding for next three years.

The Local Government Funding Settlement outlines each local authority’s core funding allocations for the forthcoming financial year. The allocations will be confirmed early in the New Year.

Council finance officers are still going through the details of the announcement, but pundits say some of England’s most deprived councils will benefit from increased funding as the government prioritises urban areas with high social needs.

Among the places expected to get big increases in their spending power are Manchester, Birmingham and outer London boroughs such as Haringey and Enfield.

Ministers say their ‘fairer funding’ system will cater for ‘left-behind’ places and will help to reverse years of austerity.

But there has been disappointment from some of the councils that appear to have lost out, including South Hams.

The district will get a ‘fair funding allocation’ for 2026/27 of £5.5million, giving it ‘core spending power’ of £15.3million. That works out at £167 per person in the South Hams.

That figure falls to £162 per head by 2029 as the fair funding allocation is cut back.

Leader Cllr Dan Thomas (Lib Dem, Newton and Yealmpton) told a meeting of the full council: “The South Hams is one of the worst represented councils in the country, and will be making strong representations to the government.

“We will have to look at how we will balance our budget for the next year.”

While South Hams’ spending power will increase by 4.4 per cent, neighbouring Torbay will see a 14.8 per cent increase. West Devon sees a 4.6 per cent rise and Plymouth an increase of 14.7 per cent.