Why does the cost of council services vary so much from one authority to the next? It is a perennial question of local government – a ‘postcode lottery' of payments and services created by localism.

When it comes to children's services, the Local Government Association (LGA) commissioned consultants Newton to work out just why, at the extremes, it costs £292 per head to deliver children's services in one area and £1,254 at the other.