Every day social care staff, often poorly paid, in services massively impacted by austerity make a life changing difference to vulnerable children, families and adults.

Saying councils are a failure only adds to undermining local democracy and ignores the reality of council work with children and adults which can often be good and even for inspectors can be ‘outstanding’.

Agree with the overall point on disjuncture between citizen expectations and reality of local government but would question if it is either helpful or accurate to say that the main ‘services’ council provide is a universal failure.