We can’t say we haven’t been warned. From the Office for Budget Responsibility to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, dire warnings about the ongoing deficit continue to pour out to an unsuspecting public.

The local government sector long ago factored in another Parliament of austerity. This week at the Conservative Party Conference chancellor George Osborne confirmed it when, despite it being an election year, he warned of another £25bn of spending cuts if the deficit is to be eliminated. He must be the only politician in modern history to enter an election campaign promising more misery.

Of course he didn’t actually spell out the nature of this misery. He failed to mention how he intended plugging the NHS deficit or tackling the escalating costs of adult care.

He made no mention whatsoever of local government cuts other than to allude to taking ‘difficult decisions on spending in other departments’ which enabled him to ‘increase the NHS budget every year of this Parliament’ (which is actually incorrect if you factor in inflation costs).