‘Here is Edward Bear coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it.' A A Milne

As the dust settles on the budgets for 2006/07, many authorities are already hard at work, planning for the financial challenges of the next few years that look increasingly difficult for local government. Even when some of the headlines on settlements look good, there are the mysteries of floors and ceilings to deal with. For example, my authority had to grapple with the political and public reconciliation of appearing to have had one of the best settlements for county councils in the country with the fact that it had lost £25m because of the ‘floor' provisions.