Spending cuts almost as extreme as those back in 2011/12 may need to be made in 2020/21 due to current levels of uncertainty, the president of the Association of Local Authority Treasurers Societies has warned.

Writing for The MJ this week, Duncan Whitfield, who is strategic director of finance and governance at Southwark LBC, said his budget remit for the next financial year was similar to nine years ago - even using his ‘most optimistic assumptions'.