Councils face an impending cuts catastrophe

There is a consensus across the political spectrum that local government services are facing a meltdown over the next three years as planned funding cuts kick in. The LSE blog reports that by 2015 'the spending power of English councils will have reduced by 30% in real terms, from the peak in 2008, while those in Scotland will be down 24%. Furthermore, the most deprived councils will be the hardest hit. By 2014 the most deprived English councils will have lost £100 more in grant income per head than the least deprived. In Scotland the difference will be £90… Given the scale of the cuts and the increasing focus on front-line services, this implies fundamental change is coming. Councils are likely to pull out of some service areas altogether’
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/archives/38044