There's nothing like a good furore to bring the sector together – and Sajid Javid's speech to the LGA united local government in a manner reminiscent of the Eric Pickles era. But unlike his predecessor, Mr Javid's comments seem to have been more faux pas than phoney war and his latest speech is more about repentance and reconciliation.

Indeed, the olive branch goes both ways. Closing the conference, LGA chairman Gary Porter called on colleagues to forgive and forget and get back to business as usual. Could it be that the tiff has brought Mr Javid closer to local government?