Last week saw confirmation of the results of the front-loaded cuts that local government has been grappling with – the sector is shedding staff faster than any other part of the public sector.

But voters have yet to notice a major deterioration in service – in Ipsos MORI's most recent study, more say services are worse than three years ago – 23% versus 11% better – but most say they are unchanged, and most people say council services are good, overall.