To say that local government is operating in challenging times would be an understatement. Quite apart from spending cuts, councils must operate within a social context in which median incomes are being squeezed, more and more risk is being transferred from the state to the individual, and the aspirations of large sections of the population cannot be met by a sputtering economy.

Councils are handling the current Spending Review relatively well – most now know how they will get to 2015 and are confident they can deliver savings by squeezing contracts, reducing spend in the front and back office, and making redundancies.