Like many councils, Windsor & Maidenhead BC has received Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) to set next year's budget. We had already taken difficult savings decisions and put in place a service reform programme. However, the scale of our structural deficit – caused by six years of council tax cuts more than a decade ago – cannot be closed entirely through savings and transformation.

EFS enables us to meet service demand and increase capacity in crucial services stripped out to fund the council tax cuts. Ultimately, EFS means we avoid a section 114 in the short-term and retain control of our own destiny.