THIS week I’m feeling a bit like Rachel Reeves.

There are some financial facts of life that the Chancellor and I, in our own very different worlds, might be happier not knowing.

Happier, but not better off.

The jaws of our collective City Council leadership dropped when our excellent new head of finance and chief executive reported back on their investigations into our books a couple of months ago and revealed just how tight things are.

Let me say right away, however, that we are not doomed to bankruptcy, as some have claimed. The situation is controllable, with a bit (well, quite a lot!) of willpower.

And it ill behoves the leader of Wiltshire Council to seek to make political capital by blaming our current administration, as he has done in the media. Analysis shows that the problem of more losses than profits has been developing for years, including under his party’s leadership.

It took our forthcoming move to a much more detailed audit system – unavoidable because our increased budget has crossed a statutory threshold - to bring the underlying issue into focus.

Space doesn’t permit me to bore you with the technicalities here. But they were set out publicly at a meeting last week. Here’s a link: salisburycitycouncil.gov.uk/council-meeting/monday-29-july-2024-finance-and-governance.

And what it all boils down to is that we have to rebuild our general reserves, by spending less and increasing our income. Our staff at all levels are already coming up with good ideas for how we can do this.

Salisbury is the first parish council in the country to find itself treated as a ‘principal authority’ under this audit system, with the extra administrative and financial burden that this imposes.

But we sure as heck won’t be the last, as cash-strapped unitary authorities pass services and blame down the line.

We still won’t be the principal authority in terms of control over crucial stuff like planning for our city’s future, of course. Madness.

Anyway, this has got nowt to do with party politics, and everything to do with where we go from here, with difficult decisions looming for several years to come.

We won’t be spending what we haven’t got, as Ms Reeves has also found herself saying lately.

If a service runs out of its budgeted funding, it’ll be paused until the next financial year.

Because this administration is determined to set Salisbury on a sustainable path.