As the new leader of Wokingham Borough Council, I want to encourage a more adult and less confrontational form of politics, with councillors of all parties working together for the good of the people of the borough.

There will, of course, be areas of disagreement – that is well understood. But I hope we will not manufacture contention where in truth we all recognize that there is no alternative to a course of action. 

One obvious area where this applies is the financial pressures on the council, which, as for every household in the borough, are no less this year than last.

Inflation is still with us. Demand for our services, especially in the areas of home-to-school transport and adult social care, continues to grow at an unsustainable rate. Interest rates remain high and rising.

Central government has given the council inadequate core funding, meaning we rely to a much greater extent than other councils do on what resources we can generate ourselves.

All around us, councils are struggling to balance their books. Several have effectively gone bankrupt, leading the government to step in and appoint commissioners to take over, introducing deep cuts in services and raising the council tax to a much higher level than in other local authority areas.

We are determined to avoid that fate befalling Wokingham, even if it requires us to make tough decisions that we would rather not make. Sound finance is the basis of a good council; without it, we can do nothing to serve you and your community.

I hope the opposition on the council will work with the Liberal Democrat administration to tackle the financial challenges that the council faces. 

Oppositions can be tempted to offer seemingly attractive but unworkable alternatives to tough decisions.

I hope the opposition at Wokingham will behave responsibly and recognize that the people of the borough expect all councillors to play their part in delivering sound financial management and not tear lumps out of each other in pursuit of narrow party advantage.

You know from your own experiences of running households, or your own working life, that financial solvency is vital.

I have every confidence that if we share with you the challenges we face, you will appreciate that tough decisions are necessary and will resist any claims that there’s an easy and painless way to deal with the problems.

We have seen in recent years the dangers of peddling simple solutions to complex problems. Now is the time for a more grown-up approach, which seeks to explain the difficult choices clearly and honestly and brings you into the conversation at an early stage.