Senior councillors at Staffordshire Moorlands District Council say the authority will need to take tough decisions in light of cost of living increase.

Speaking at a council leadership meeting this week, they said the authority would have to weigh support for residents with pressures on delivering services.

Like many households, the council is facing increasing pressure on spending due to inflation and rising energy and fuel bills.

Cabinet member for customer services Cllr James Aberley (Con) said: "We're coming up to a time in the economic crisis where the council's reserves and the council's ability to help residents is going to come under slightly more scrutiny.

"We're going to have to balance the forward-looking inflationary pressures with what we're going to do to help residents over the cost of living issues this winter.

"It's potentially going to last for one or two years, and we're going to have to seriously look at ourselves as a council and say what's the right balance to strike there between keeping our financial reserves healthy and making sure we can deliver frontline services but also what can we do to provide some assistance to residents while we do that.

"As a compassionate council I think we need to look at that quite carefully."

Cllr Aberley said anticipated cost increases would eat into the authority's budget, and that this needed to be kept in mind when making decisions.

Meanwhile, deputy leader of the council, Cllr Mark Deaville (Con) praised the authority's present financial footing, saying it was the result of several years of good management and hard work by officers.

He said local authorities across the country would be envious of their current strong standing.

However, he cautioned: "We do face quite an uncertain future and I think we don't quite know how the inflationary pressures are going to affect our bottom line in years to come."

He said the council would cut its garment according to its cloth, and would always seek to spend taxpayers money wisely.

Cabinet member for climate change and biodiversity, Cllr Joe Porter (Con) said: "The most pressing issue facing us is the cost of living crisis.

"We've got to have that at the forefront of our minds when we're making decisions and looking at the budget."

Opposition leader Cllr Mike Gledhill (Lab) commented: "We have to respond to the needs of the residents in the Moorlands at a time of crisis.

"It's good to hear that [councillors] are thinking about it."

Opposition councillors wouldn't usually be given the opportunity to speak during a cabinet meeting – but Cllr Gledhill was granted the opportunity to respond briefly to the authority's financial update. 

Cllr Gledhill said there would be further opportunities to debate decision making in the coming months, as cost of living concerns deepen.