The county council department responsible for East Devon’s highways and libraries could see its budget slashed by a further £3.4million next year.

But spending on things like adult care and education is set to rise by £16.1million, under Devon County Council’s (DCC) target 2016/17 budget.

Cuts of £3.3million are also being proposed for DCC’s corporate services department, which provides backroom support.

County bosses were told last week that government funding to the council is to fall by 15.7 per cent next year.

The council’s deputy leader and finance spokesman John Clatworthy said Devon had ‘been disadvantaged once again’ in its financial settlement from Whitehall.

“This is not a good settlement for local government,” he said. “We have reduced our spending by £208 million since 2009 and there is more to take out.”

In total, the authority plans to spend at least £443million delivering services next year.

The target budget will be considered at a full meeting of DCC when it sits on February 18.