Our need to manage rising demand while our sources of income are fixed or falling determines much of what we do at the council. Even though we have saved £100m over the last seven years, we must still find a further £56m over the next three.

We also face another dilemma in that we are all keenly aware that budgets are not just numbers on a page but represent policy decisions that will affect all residents.

In order to plan our budgets, we focus our attention on two areas to help us.

Firstly, we look at trends, especially where spending is increasing.

We then see if we can provide a service in a different way, or commission it through community groups, charities, or private companies in a less costly, but still effective, way. Secondly, we check how much we spend on specific services compared to other councils.

Our approach to adult social care is a good illustration of how we used our understanding of the emerging pressures to make changes. In 2007/8 we spent nearly a third of our budget on adult care, but looking at the demand, we knew that if we did nothing that could have risen to three quarters by now We took a number of steps as part of a co-ordinated transformation programme. We set up a not-for-profit social enterprise called SEQOL whom we commission to provide much of our care support. We work closely with the hospital and GPs to make sure people can get out of hospital and back to independent living as soon as possible. As we negotiate individual care packages, we ensure that these are tailored closely to people’s actual needs.

Supporting people to continue to live in their own homes is not only what we all want, but it also reduces costs in our adult social care budget. Since 2014/15 we have been able to hold the share of the council’s budget spent on adult social care at 42-45% rather the 65% or more we feared.

There are no easy answers. The council will have to continue making the difficult choices, no matter how challenging they are, and that may mean significant changes to the services that we may all take for granted.