Council back-office savings

A new report doubts whether efficiency savings will be able to cover the full extent of the government's spending cuts.

The New Local Government Network (NLGN) argues that in a best-case scenario sharing back-office services will only offer efficiencies worth 3.6% of expenditure.

More realistic, it adds, is 1.8% - nowhere near the 26% grant cuts councils are facing in the period to 2014.

The coalition's strategy in combating councils' claims that they are being forced to make cuts has firmed up in recent weeks, with local government secretary Eric Pickles claiming sweeping cuts are unnecessary and avoidable.