Local government is always around to pick up the pieces – and, right now, there are plenty of pieces to pick up. Protecting the vulnerable and promoting communities is, after all, the raison d'être of local government. It is what gets staff out of bed in the morning.

And, as the Local Government Association often reminds us, local government is the most efficient part of the public sector – although, following issues at Thurrock and Woking et al, the sector has been a little less vocal about that fact. But, as pressures pile high on public services, it seems the buck is increasingly stopping at the door of the town hall, at a time when councils can ill-afford it.