Confidence in councils to provide vital services is at risk of being damaged, the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee has said in a damning report released today.

Committee chair Clive Betts said: ‘There is a disconnect between the services taxpayers expect their local authorities to provide and the level of service possible under current Government funding.

'People expect well maintained roads, regular refuse collections and cultural services yet funding rarely stretches beyond meeting the urgent needs of social care services.