Expectations were low for local government in this week's spending review.  All the indications were that there was going to be very little additional grant funding for the sector – and that any increases in resources would have to come from increases in council tax.  Restrictions on council tax might even have been lifted altogether. 

Instead, local government is going to get a real-terms increase in both grant funding and Core Spending Power.  Core grant funding will increase by £1.6bn (£4.8bn over 3 years), equivalent to an average annual increase in core funding of 2.8% per year in cash terms.  Not bad, but not brilliant.