So that was what we've all been waiting for. Councils held their breath as chancellor George Osborne last week delivered his lengthy vision of public spending over the next five years. But the measures announced in the Spending Review could well enact a deeper overhaul of the relationship between local and central government than first anticipated.

Councils were undoubtedly left with a stark image of the future. The next five years will see a 56% cut to the grant from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), falling from £11.5bn to £5.4bn over the remainder of this Parliament – a £6.1bn drop.