Coalition ministers received an unexpected boost to their controversial local authority austerity regime this week, when a major survey revealed almost three-quarters of councils believe the impact of budget cuts so far has been ‘positive or neutral'.

Joint research by the Royal Society of the Arts (RSA) and the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) found that most councils were ‘coping better than expected' with average 27% budget cuts over the current Spending Review period.