In moments like these you start to feel relieved you don't work for the local government finance team at the MHCLG. As if holding their hands up to another error was not tough enough, now there is a cacophony of noise calling for a wholesale rethink of the finance system.

This week the Resolution Foundation said what local government has known for a long time: council tax is regressive, outdated and not fit for purpose. The think-tank suggests it is rapidly starting to resemble the poll tax – a tariff so unpopular it led to riots on the streets and the downfall of a prime minister. Politicians beware.