How would your council cope if you handed over £20m from the coffers with no visible gain? How about £50m? And you must do it with the same finance settlement and capping restrictions, with no cash handouts from the Government – while still providing a decent service for local people.

It is a tall order – but a reality for some local authorities which have had to come to terms with giving away money for their equal pay deal. The latest estimates for some authorities are creeping higher and higher, with Cumbria CC facing a bill of ‘up to £50m', and now Wakefield MDC looking at costs of up to £20m.