Borrowing from international banks or creating bond schemes could be the future for funding major projects to beat the cuts – and one county council is already looking at the option.

Kent CC revealed it is considering a range of alternative options to fund a rail link to Manston airport which the council believes could become an alternative to Heathrow's third runway and London mayor Boris Johnson's controversial estuary airport.

The link to Ashford would enable the airport to increase flights and create badly-needed jobs.
Transport secretary Lord Adonis told The MJ last week that the Government was not against the plan but it would not be funded from the public purse.

Council leader Paul Carter told The MJ Manston's development is critical to the South East and particularly deprived areas in Kent so the Government's rejection meant other options would be considered. Cllr Carter said: ‘We've got to seek creative solutions that don't always come from the public purse. One option is funding from the Middle East. A bond issue is another – that might depend on who buys the Channel tunnel rail link. It could be very profitable.'

It came as shadow communities secretary Caroline Spelman called on councils to find more imaginative ways to generate income. Speaking at an NLGN seminar this week, Ms Spelman said the public were ‘at the end of their tether' with taxes and charges. Ms Spelman told delegates: ‘Councils should not be coerced into putting up costs all the time simply to make ends meet. We need to look at more imaginative and genuinely localist ways they can derive income.'

She suggested council bonds and using scrutiny powers to examine public spending in their area to find cost savings.

The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) this week called for a National Infrastructure Investment Bank to protect investment in vital infrastructure.