Will front-line services be hit by council budget reductions?

While a number of councils in the UK have decided to cut their back-office spending in order to try and maintain front-end services there is no doubt we will see cost savings and reductions in front-line services in the short to medium term. There is no way that councils in the UK can afford to spend the same money on frontline services as they have in the past.

The problem for UK voters is the fact that the bulk of local council budget cuts and redundancies are likely to come after the next general election when the next government is likely to change a number of policies which may have swayed investors in the election. The Conservative party has already indicated it is not willing or able to give cast in stone promises regarding public sector spending until it has had more time to "look at the books".

The sad fact for the UK population is that while council tax increases this year will be the lowest for some time they will almost certainly increase significantly in the short to medium term. When you also consider the ever growing problem of public sector pensions, which are majority funded by UK taxpayers, we are likely to see higher council taxes and a reduction in services - a nightmare scenario for the government, taxpayers and councils.