Government is passing down an unprecedented austerity drive to local government. In the perfect storm of cuts, rising unemployment and ageing population, the budget failed to throw much of a lifeline to local government.

But as the Treasury resigns councils to choppy financial waters for longer than predicted, how far have authorities grasped the notion of prolonged austerity? Can they handle what needs to be done long term and to put it bluntly, how bad can it get?

Read the rest of my piece on the Guardian’s Local Government Network.