Decisions made in the Spending Review are partly the product of government game playing. With this top-down perspective, local government leaders must learn to make do, writes Dan Corry.

I doubt that many local government leaders had a smile on their face when they read recently that Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles had managed to settle early in the Spending Review, signing up for 8-10% cuts for 2015/16 and getting in well ahead of his colleagues.