Most of us worry about what is going on with our public services. Operations are cancelled, there are bigger school classes, social care is in crisis, bin collections are less frequent and there are shorter opening hours for services.

What we tend to worry about less – at least at first – is what is happening to the capital underpinning many of these services – the buildings and equipment. At home, we know we have to spend on maintenance. If we don't, then at some point we suffer: the roof lets the rain in, the car breaks down, the dishwasher seizes up. We also know we have to reconfigure our capital stock every now and then – like spending more on solar panels or getting rid of an old expensive boiler.