This week I will be sitting in the council chamber as councillors (hopefully) vote through the recommended budget package. To many it may seem like the end of a long and difficult journey. The reality is that there are still a lot of moving parts.

If I reflect upon the council’s position then we get no revenue support grant and only 15% of our specific grants are derived from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The remaining 85% comes from other Government departments, notably the Department for Education and the Department of Health.