Councils can expect to share the pain of forecast public sector job losses equally with central government – equivalent to a further 210,000 staff reductions – a leading workforce expert has claimed.

An economic outlook by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) – the Government's independent fiscal watchdog – published alongside the chancellor's Autumn Statement, dramatically hiked predicted losses in general public employment from 400,000 by March 2016 to 710,000 by the first quarter of 2017.