It has been a mild autumn in Devon – warm enough to make last year's snow falls seem a distant memory. We're still planning carefully for winter but, together with many other authorities, we've got another ‘big freeze' to consider – council tax.

There is no escaping that a tax freeze is a winner with the public. But in the midst of budget planning for the years ahead, there's a chill wind of harsh reality as we work through the practicalities, not least because in Teignbridge, leading politicians were elected on a pledge of a two-year freeze, with an aspiration to continue it for four.