:00:15. > :00:15.Hello, good evening. his administration.
:00:16. > :00:18.Councillors in Devon and Dorset have tonight become the latest to approve
:00:19. > :00:22.It follows Somerset council's decision to increase bills
:00:23. > :00:25.The other local authorities in our region are expected
:00:26. > :00:28.to make similar increases within the next few weeks.
:00:29. > :00:33.More from our political reporter, Anna Varle.
:00:34. > :00:36.Many of us have seen small increases in council tax over the last few
:00:37. > :00:39.years to pay for things like bin collections,
:00:40. > :00:50.highways, street and fire, but this year you might notice
:00:51. > :00:52.a change in your bill because of social care.
:00:53. > :00:55.Let's go into the kitchen, make you a cup of tea.
:00:56. > :00:57.A task many of us take for granted but
:00:58. > :01:00.Joyce has just returned home from hospital and needs help to get back
:01:01. > :01:10.This support has a cost, which is why local
:01:11. > :01:24.authorities are looking at charging council taxpayers more.
:01:25. > :01:26.Once you've had carers in, if you don't know
:01:27. > :01:31.fancy putting their council tax up, but when you know the things that
:01:32. > :01:34.you do and the money goes towards, you don't mind so much.
:01:35. > :01:36.Protests took place in Somerset yesterday as
:01:37. > :01:38.councillors set the biggest rise in more
:01:39. > :01:39.than a decade and today it was
:01:40. > :01:42.Today Devon County Council decided to increase
:01:43. > :01:54.2% of that will go on bins, police, fire, 3% will
:01:55. > :01:56.go on social care for the likes of Joyce.
:01:57. > :02:05.Those in a band D property will pay around ?60 more a year.
:02:06. > :02:11.We have to put in a large amount of money to look after people.
:02:12. > :02:17.It's going through, ?19 million, ?2 million for children's services.
:02:18. > :02:20.Similar increases are expected across the rest of the region in the
:02:21. > :02:32.I think largely people can afford it and social care
:02:33. > :02:39.service which is the point of
:02:40. > :02:41.need, social care which is means tested.
:02:42. > :02:45.I haven't any objection to them putting our council tax up.
:02:46. > :02:47.We will find the money and I believe it
:02:48. > :02:52.But despite the rise in council tax, local authorities
:02:53. > :02:55.like Devon are still having to make ?23 million in cuts to social
:02:56. > :03:16.Our political editor is with us. These latest rises more evidence of
:03:17. > :03:21.the strain on local councils? Yes, that strain would go away, even
:03:22. > :03:26.with these rises and millions of pounds of cuts. A big gripe as
:03:27. > :03:29.always is the amount of grant that central government is paying to
:03:30. > :03:33.local councils. Just before Christmas when the provisional
:03:34. > :03:37.settlement was announced, as in previous years, there was a lot of
:03:38. > :03:41.criticism from MPs and councils in rural areas like ours saying the
:03:42. > :03:55.amount the government was offering was unfair and simply not
:03:56. > :03:59.sufficient to meet their needs. We are in a slightly strange situation
:04:00. > :04:01.this year where most of the main councils in the region set their
:04:02. > :04:04.budgets before they hear what the final offer from the government will
:04:05. > :04:07.be because it has to be announced and voted on in Westminster next
:04:08. > :04:09.week so we are in a situation where if the government comes out with a
:04:10. > :04:12.lot more money next week these budgets will be set and the Council
:04:13. > :04:15.bills will be set and I gather the government is getting the blame for
:04:16. > :04:17.that as well because it is so late because of all the Brexit
:04:18. > :04:21.negotiations and the councils have to get their budgets set by law by
:04:22. > :04:24.the beginning of March. If the government doesn't come up
:04:25. > :04:31.with any more money, are there any obvious options for local councils?
:04:32. > :04:34.This is worsening situation and it tends to hit smaller councils
:04:35. > :04:41.of Scilly at the moment is battling of Scilly at the moment is battling
:04:42. > :04:44.big black holes its budget. Small rural District Council is really
:04:45. > :04:49.tend to suffer with all of this as well. Looking around the country a
:04:50. > :04:53.number of rural counties including Dorset here in the south-west are
:04:54. > :04:59.looking at following Cornwall and abolishing district councils and
:05:00. > :05:03.unitary is as well -- instead. If Dorsey gets the go-ahead if you look
:05:04. > :05:05.at the whole of the South West from Gloucestershire done Medvedev
:05:06. > :05:12.announced Somerset would only -- be the only authority is sticking to
:05:13. > :05:15.the traditional structure. Devon and Somerset might then come under
:05:16. > :05:19.pressure to do the same thing for financial reasons. Thank you.
:05:20. > :05:21.Meanwhile the Isles of Scilly Council is having
:05:22. > :05:24.to decide how much money to save after a major overspend.
:05:25. > :05:26.Although the islands are just off Cornwall they're independent
:05:27. > :05:27.from Cornwall Council and are responsible
:05:28. > :05:34.for their own finances, as Nick Quraishi explains.
:05:35. > :05:42.It describes itself as the smallest unitary authority in England, with
:05:43. > :05:48.the biggest bream it. In charge of a school, an airport, a residential
:05:49. > :05:54.care home and water supplies. Set up in 1890 the Council for Scilly
:05:55. > :06:00.provides services for 2300 islanders with 21 councillors and two more --
:06:01. > :06:05.117 full-time employees so it is the island 's largest employer. Its
:06:06. > :06:09.because it overspent. The council 's because it overspent. The council 's
:06:10. > :06:16.general reserve fund, or savings account, stands at ?500,000, half of
:06:17. > :06:21.what was expected. This coming year money will be cut from budgets, with
:06:22. > :06:27.potential for more. Among the biggest savings is ?200,000 for
:06:28. > :06:32.making waste disposal more efficient. Almost 50,000 imposing
:06:33. > :06:37.fortnightly winter bin collections and scaling down on street sweeping.
:06:38. > :06:41.It will drop the money it pays to the tourist information centre and
:06:42. > :06:50.take ?5,000 from a health scheme that led a counsellor to walk out of
:06:51. > :06:52.a recent meeting. The final budget for last year will be set on the 7th
:06:53. > :07:01.of March. A controversial car park pay machine
:07:02. > :07:04.has been replaced at a location used in the Poldark TV series
:07:05. > :07:06.in Cornwall, after the original was deliberately pulled
:07:07. > :07:08.out of the ground. There are calls for the National
:07:09. > :07:11.Trust not to enforce parking charges at Levant Mine because it's the site
:07:12. > :07:14.of one of the area's worst mining disasters,
:07:15. > :07:16.as Hannah Stacey reports. The underground workings of Levant
:07:17. > :07:18.mine extend more than a mile Generations of men sought copper
:07:19. > :07:22.and tin here but the Levant mine disaster in October 1919 was one
:07:23. > :07:26.of the biggest losses of life 31 men were killed when the device
:07:27. > :07:33.to carry them down the shaft failed. Scenes from the first series
:07:34. > :07:43.of Poldark were filmed here. For now, they have enough copper
:07:44. > :07:47.to cope and come the next auction... We will see they come
:07:48. > :07:48.away empty-handed. There has been a 50%
:07:49. > :07:50.increase in visitor That means the footfall
:07:51. > :07:56.has increased here. 70% of those people don't go
:07:57. > :08:00.into the site itself but walk in the local landscape
:08:01. > :08:02.which we also look after. So that increases the maintenance
:08:03. > :08:06.liability and we have an conservation work we need to do
:08:07. > :08:10.to keep the space special. So to pay for it they have put
:08:11. > :08:13.in a parking machine, It will cost us money to replace us,
:08:14. > :08:18.it has already cost us money to replace and that is money
:08:19. > :08:21.we could have used for conservation work, so it is sad there has
:08:22. > :08:25.been that vandalism. Opponents say they don't
:08:26. > :08:27.condone the vandalism but still want to get this machine
:08:28. > :08:34.moved legally and permanently. They make a point about protecting
:08:35. > :08:37.the environment but I would hardly call sticking that parking meter
:08:38. > :08:42.here protecting the environment, and how did they manage
:08:43. > :08:44.for all these decades I suppose it's people like us that
:08:45. > :08:50.are attracted to this place because of Poldark and we have
:08:51. > :08:55.to pay for the upkeep of it. My grandfather was Tom Rowe
:08:56. > :08:59.and he died in the Levant mine disaster but I still think
:09:00. > :09:02.the National Trust need to charge to park here because it's becoming
:09:03. > :09:08.increasingly popular with Poldark. They need money to maintain
:09:09. > :09:13.the roads and the access in and out. With the 100th anniversary
:09:14. > :09:16.of the Levant mine disaster approaching, the National Trust says
:09:17. > :09:20.descendents of the men killed will still be able to come
:09:21. > :09:37.here and park for free. Now with the weather forecast, here
:09:38. > :09:42.is Holly. Thank you. We had a very nice day
:09:43. > :09:46.today in many respects and that led to a nice evening and I have been
:09:47. > :09:53.spoilt for choice with my lovely photos that have been coming in.
:09:54. > :09:58.This one is viewed earlier on today. Tomorrow it will unfortunately be
:09:59. > :10:03.cloudier and we have the risk of showery rain later as well. High
:10:04. > :10:07.pressure has been in charge and it stays in charge in the coming days
:10:08. > :10:11.but weather fronts will try to push in. They weaken but bring more cloud
:10:12. > :10:15.than perhaps a bit of rain, I suspect mostly dry over the coming
:10:16. > :10:20.days. This evening and overnight then we might see mist and fog
:10:21. > :10:25.patches and low cloud rolling in. If we get clear spells a touch of frost
:10:26. > :10:29.is possible but most of us will be generally frost free tomorrow. Early
:10:30. > :10:33.mist and fog and quite a lot of cloud spilling in which we'll cope
:10:34. > :10:37.to the moors as well. Hill fog around. Later today the risk of
:10:38. > :10:42.showery rain but not too much and a brisk wind to the West. Temperatures
:10:43. > :10:48.will get into double figures. Cloudy in the coming days and it is dry.
:10:49. > :10:54.Where you get some sunshine it should feel reasonably nice.
:10:55. > :10:57.Thank you. That is all from us. Our next update is just before 6:30am.
:10:58. > :11:01.From us, good night. of 11. Not too bad for the
:11:02. > :11:07.forthcoming weekend. Here is Nick Miller with a resume of the National
:11:08. > :11:11.weather picture. Hello, rain for some of us today
:11:12. > :11:12.although it won't make much of