This will be my ninth budget council but my first where the administration is able to get their budget through without horse trading or wheeling and dealing.
This is a relief in some ways but, obviously, annoying for opposition parties who want to be seen to be influencing what the council spends its money on.
We need to be clear that the savings identified in this year’s budget would not have been very different whoever was running the council.
There are, of course, various amendments asking for this to be saved and that to be cut instead but these are for relatively small amounts.
Obviously, a political party may have priorities but, in my view, this budget seems fairly measured given the amount to be saved.
It will be a difficult and worrying time for many staff, however, with the certainty of reorganisation, redeployment, voluntary severance and, possibly, compulsory redundancy.
What I would also add, though, is that the administration will need to take a forensic look at the corporate side of the council over the next two years.
These are the functions that serve just the council itself where they may have gained a momentum of their own and savings may be possible in future budgets.
It’s worth repeating the catastrophic background to where we find ourselves today. That is cuts of over £240 million since 2010.
In terms of council finances, this is akin to a person having a weekly shop at the local supermarket costing £100 and then being told to buy the same amount of groceries the next week but for £50 less. An impossible task of course.
This also against a backdrop of ever-increasing social care demands – an area of public provision where we have been promised long-term solutions for many years now, yet none materialise.
Lastly, I would make an observation and a plea. My observation is that we have the shadow of the i360 hanging over us. The financial millstone that this attraction now weighs the council down with is very worrying indeed.
My request is to keep the opening times of our public toilets at 8am – all of them. Bladders do not have alarm clocks or timers. When you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go. So please can we find a way to keep them opening at 8am.
