While this Budget has not brought further cuts for local government, the next two years will be the toughest yet for people who rely on council services.
As the economy improves, people will increasingly start to question why councils are having to reduce and withdraw from providing the services that underpin people’s daily lives.
If we are to avoid an upturn in the economy coinciding with a decline in public services, we need a fundamental reform of the way the public sector works and an honest reappraisal of how public services are provided and paid for in post-austerity Britain.
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