This financial strain will necessitate difficult decisions about which services the council can continue to provide, and in what form.

The council’s executive director of finance and corporate resources, Jackie Taylor, said: “We are adopting a slightly different approach with our early budget indications this year, by looking at a medium-term strategy rather than just a year at a time.

“When we look at the financial years 2025/26, 2026/27 and 2027/28, we anticipate the budget gap will be £77.275m.

“Difficult decisions will need to be made to balance the council’s budget. We will need to significantly change what we deliver over the next three years with the focus being on statutory services. There will likely be areas where we will need do consider whether we can continue to deliver services and if so, what those services will actually look like.

“As in previous years, we will be consulting with our communities on what matters to them and will communicate how we do that in the coming months.”