Yet the politics of partnership are as tough to manage at local level, he says.

But, despite some of these being sizeable operations with turnovers of tens of millions of pounds, most operate at local level.

This could be used to their advantage if councils are to push through cuts at the local level to deliver against the national government agenda.

At present, the weight of conflicting policy advice and the dearth of planning policy at local level do not lead to swift or effective decision-making.

But delivery should be at a local level.