With 2011/12 budgets being finalised, the focus is now on the challenge of meeting the budget for the following year. Will it mean more salami-slicing or transformation? The MJ, with support services and construction provider Interserve, recently hosted a roundtable discussion with leading chief executives to discuss how they see the future of local government unfolding. Phil Cooper reports on the discussion

With councils now finalising their budgets and making cuts for a period of austerity, the debate should be moving on to address the shape of local government and service provision in the years ahead. But is it?