As we hurtle towards next week's Budget, all eyes in local government will turn to the chancellor and the contents of his red briefcase. Given Britain's continued economic woes, there is a chance it contains little more than his lunchtime sandwich, an apple and Theresa May's throat lozenges.

The Prime Minister's promise of more housebuilding looks likely to make it into the speech, but while Mrs May is committed to ‘social housing', rather than just affordable housing – an extraordinary move for a Conservative PM – local government's role in delivering new homes remains to be seen.