The levels of support for councils

This article was first published in the MJ in September 2012

The chancellor, George Osborne got booed. Now he's used to this in the House of Commons, but perhaps not from the general public. But this wasn't any general public – this was the audience at the London Paralympics. They included far more relatives of disabled people than found in an ordinary crowd. Whereas less than 20% of park users say they have noticed cuts, more than 40% of people using social care say they have – and hence perhaps why George got a rougher reception than he expected. Nevertheless, overall, councils across Britain are making tough choices pretty well. Our polling suggests that satisfaction with local government is actually slightly above the average of the last 25 years. Some 62% of the public say services haven't changed – despite a 28% cut in funding. In London, in fact, one-quarter of residents say services have improved since 2010 – this week's Economist magazine hands out rare praise to London councils for innovation. Councils have, so far, managed to keep most people happy. They have actually been limiting cuts to social care wherever they can. So, as successive waves of cuts work through, and hysteresis kicks in – the cumulative effects of changes in spending – we may see voters getting more shirty. We aren't out of the woods yet – and despite satisfaction levels being 'OK', the most common characteristics of most councils remain being 'faceless' and 'bureaucratic', according to the public. So the next few years will be very interesting. Will councils be able to have a decent two-way conversation with the public as they juggle ever tighter spending decisions about the Barnet chart of doom? Will they manage to sustain a difficult balancing act? Or will they get booed too?