Every local authority in the UK is required by law to pass a balanced budget every year.

But for politicians like Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston, getting your budget approved by councillors can prove to be something of a headache.

In December, Mr Preston took ownership of his plans for £4.5m of cuts in his first budget saying he would “stand by” his decisions.

As things stand, the independent mayor’s financial plans would see a council taxes rise, cuts to bin collections, lollipop patrols scrapped at a number of sites and price rises for school dinners.

But with the council undergoing a ramped up consultation process which has seen hundreds of responses from residents, Mr Preston has also promised to listen to what members of the public have to say.

“We all know there are some service reduction and cuts coming and there’s no avoiding that, but what we want to do is bear in mind what the public think, what they treasure most,” he said.

“In the end of the day it’s my decision and I’ll have to stand by that.

“But I will listen to people – I don’t always do what they say and what they want, but I always listen.”

It remains to be seen what Mr Preston’s final budget proposals will look like after he takes the consultation into account.

But even after he’s done that, he still needs to get enough votes in the council chamber – a majority of councillors – before his plan can be passed.

And given the mayor’s somewhat frosty relationship with the Labour benches and some opposition from members of the Middlesbrough Independent Councillors Association, Mr Preston might find that tricky.

How it could pan out.

Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston presents his budget

At a special Council meeting on February 26, Mr Preston will present his budget to the council.

Two things can happen from here.

Budget approved

In the first scenario, a simple majority of councillors approve the budget.

In this instance, the budget is formally passed and submitted to central government – job done.

Budget rejected

If on the other hand, councillors could reject the budget.

In this case, suggested amendments are submitted and the mayor is forced to come back to a second meeting within 10 working days.

Now there are a number of possibilities...

Mayor presents budget again

The mayor comes back to the chamber with his budget.

This could remain unchanged from his original, with an explanation as to why he has chosen not to amend it.

Or it could include some or all of the amendments recommended by the Council.

In either event, if councillors agree, they can approve the budget with a simple majority.

If they do not agree, things could get tricky.

Any further amendments would now require a two thirds majority to be passed – making it much more difficult to gain approval from all sides.

If no budget is approved by councillors, the job of presenting a budget to central government falls to the section 151 officer.

Section 151 officer’s budget

If the politicians fail to agree, then the council is left with no option but to submit a budget as drafted by the section 151 officer, James Bromiley.

This could be treacherous territory for the council. The 151 officer doesn’t have to please anybody.

He could simply slash all services that aren’t statutory – lollipop ladies would go, school meal prices could shoot up and on top of that, council tax could also be bumped up by more than politicians would have dreamed of.

In this scenario, balancing the books is all that matters to fulfil the 151 officer’s legal obligation.