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I agree wholeheartedly with those Members who have pointed out that our robust and healthy finances reflect the contribution over the years by our community. It is right that it should receive a return for its past endeavours.
The appropriate level of reserves in the longer term and how best to use those we have already accumulated are issues which my colleagues and I are already looking at. We will continue to listen to Members' suggestions on this important issue. But this is a debate for another day after we have successfully sailed through the transition.
Conclusion
I would like to end by saying something about the Budget process. I see it as a continuous one. One in which the Administration consults this Council and the community, first on spending ideas and later on revenue proposals. We then draw up our package responding to requests as best we can. So the Budget that emerges each year is a shared responsibility. As guardian of the public purse, I cannot hope to please all the people all the time. But in my Budget, I do aim to please as many as I can when I can. For example, I am pleased to say our dialogue led to us responding positively to the vast majority of the Democratic Party's requests this year as is shown in their latest bulletin. This dialogue is a fine tradition which we should cherish in the years ahead. And the dialogue is about to begin again.
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This year the Budget had a unique role to play. It was right that it should be prudent and conservative. The debate on it is only partly about our few differences. It is mainly about what we have achieved together in the many more items of expenditure and tax cuts that Members' proposed and we included in the Budget. It is mainly about coming together to agree the way forward for our community. We have come together. We have reached a broad consensus on the way forward. Together we stand ready to face this historic time of change. Thank you.
End