tony travers is professor of public policy at the london school of economics. it is london school ofnomics. it is now 14 london school of economics. it is new 14 years _ london school of economics. it is now 14 years since _ london school of economics. it is now 14 years since an _ london school of economics. it 3 now 14 years since an attempt was made by national government to bring down its deficit, and that involved piling cuts more on local government, and the home office and justice departments, than other parts of public spending, such as the national health service and the state pension, which have been protected. local government took deeper cuts than other parts of the public sector. although in the last two or three years, the government has found slightly extra money for local government, it is still spending perhaps ten or 20% less in real terms today than it was back in 2010. other parts of the public sector are spending more. we need to note that demand for services is giving up. the population is getting older, it is growing, and many people have needs that they have t