The headlines from last week's budget came as no surprise to local government. We have always known that the period through to 2020 is going to require the same level of savings again that local government has been able to develop and deliver in the first half of this austerity decade. 

It's not the same challenge though that we face – it's a much harder one that requires local government as a whole to share their learning from the first 4 years to inform our plans for the future.