What does it mean when you mention using reserves?
The Council has been prudent over the years and has put some money away into savings pots (called reserves) which enable the Council to deal with extra costs when they arise. However, like savings, they can only be used once and when they have been used, they are gone. Therefore, we cannot use reserves indefinitely to fund services. Next year, it is proposed the council uses around £15.1million of reserves to help plug some of the budget gap.