Every one of us has a budget that we have to balance – making sure our expenditure does not exceed our income. For many of us at the moment, that’s a challenge. At the Council, it’s an almost Herculean task.

We have to set our budget every year, and that time is upon us again. We have to decide what we can afford to provide and how we do it. It’s not made any easier by the fact that we have a large number of vital services that we must provide by law, which means that unlike commercial businesses, we can’t just stop doing things. Neither can we do much to raise our prices; we’ve frozen Council Tax for the past three years, and the government has told us that even if we choose to increase it this year, it can only be less than two per cent.

Against this we have rising demand for our services, which is outstripping the amount of money we receive to pay for them. Clearly, and whether we like it or not, something’s got to give.

There are no easy answers. Even if the coalition government cancelled the planned £10m cuts over the next three years, we would still need to find £38m of savings to meet growing demand for safeguarding vulnerable children, looking after vulnerable adults, and caring for those with learning disabilities. These are core duties in any civilised society, and no one has yet come up with a practical alternative for others to carry this burden.

Our first goal is to continue changing the services we commission or provide to make them more effective and economic, and to reduce the bureaucracy as much as we can. We have made £70m cumulative savings over the past five years, but this cannot continue indefinitely. That means there are some services that used to be subsidised, that are not compulsory, for which we will have to charge. The second priority is to invest in Swindon’s economic prosperity. Our town is a significant part of the UK economy, and we are often listed alongside larger cities. That’s why we are using borrowing to support the vital infrastructure, which will help employers and residents.

We are continuing to build schools to ensure all children have access to good local education and we are investing in our road network to make sure that firms can thrive.

We are also working with private donors to develop a new museum and art gallery that will complement the successful central library.

Supporting our local heritage and culture is vital if we are to keep Swindon as an attractive place where businesses want to locate. Behind these two goals, there will be many difficult choices for councillors and residents. Nevertheless, I am convinced that our draft budget keeps Swindon on the right path. - David Renard Swindon Borough Council Leader