Last week's breakfast event by Deloitte to launch its new report, The state of the state, was by no means an assembly of local government cheerleaders.

Among the panel to discuss the report into the dire state of the economy and its impact on public services was Bernard Jenkin, chairman of the public administration select committee; MP and ex-think-tank chief, Nick Boles; Economist journalist, Anne McElvoy; and Andrew Haldenby, director of think-tank, Reform.