As we enter party conferenceseason (don't expect to hear much about local government) most leaders and chief executives I seem to be remarkably sanguine about the road ahead.

But then, in their ever-practical way, apart from an odd period of largesse earlier this century, most people in local government with any history will be used to making do and getting by.

My worry is that local government is almost too good at it.   In our 2013 annual Local Government Index, we find that 40% of the public agree that their council is doing the best it can with the money available, and that 30% disagree.

On the face of it, we might dismiss this as another sign of local government fecklessness.

Thirty per cent agree council bosses are useless I can hear the Daily Mail say.  But, looking at our archive of surveys going back to the 1980s and averaging dozens of analyses, what is remarkable, given a doubling in council tax up to 2010, is that the public remain so positive.

The average figure for the same questions in the 1980s and 1990s was that 44% agreed and 29% disagreed.

Despite radical downizing, and increased charges, the public's views have remained remarkably similar, perhaps because improved services over the period matched some of the price rises and judicious juggling of priorities by leaders and chief executives.

Even now, 56% say they have not noticed any changes to local services, with 14% saying things have got better since 2010, and 28%, worse.

The question is whether local government can go on just getting on with it.

I used to be Jeremiah-esque (and I do worry about social care), but the sheer resilience of local government continues to impress.  It is just a shame that it matters so little nationally.

Ben Page is chief executive of Ipsos MORI