It goes without saying that it has been an incredibly tough 2022 and nothing encapsulates the uncertainty we have all collectively faced than looking at our budget proposals from 12 months ago.

Back then, our s151 officers understandably based their financial projections on inflation rising by 3.6% at the most, based on Government forecasters' projections, but the reality was that inflation was running at almost treble that by the end of the year.