we‘ve had places like northamptonshire county council this year failing northamptonshire county councilil this yearfailing to balance its books, we‘ve had other authorities who have had to make cuts to services during this financial year, but the county council network, which represents 36 of the largest authorities, is warning that already those councils have identified more than £1 billion worth of cuts which will have to be made by 2020 to plug a billion funding gap. they argue that they are caught between a rock and a half place, they have growing demand for statutory for services such as child protection and care of older and vulnerable people, at the same time as their grant from central government is being cut. the council leaders say they are faced with truly unpalatable cuts. the government in response says councils are responsible for their own budgets and that they will get more money in the next two years. that‘s already been agreed. alison holt, thank you. 100 years ago this month, the world experienced an outbreak of flu like no other. the spanish flu epidemic left between

of leicestershire county council has suggested abolishing eight existing authorities in the area, and replacing them with one large council to save money. cash—strapped northamptonshiren the process of a similar restructure. 0ur political correspondent alex forsyth went to leicestershire to find out more. this baby might not know much about council services but his mum, anna, a gp, relied on her local children's centre when she moved to leicestershire seven years ago. when she went back recently, she found the service had been stripped back. that lack of support means that people are really going to be at risk of postnatal depression and anxiety and those families are really going to suffer because of the cuts. it's a familiar tale across the country as councils struggle to balance the books. leicestershire county council. now some, like leicestershire, are looking at radical solutions to cut back running costs and put more into services. at the moment, one big council, leicester county, covers the whole area and is responsible for major services like social care and highways. but the county is also split into seven districts and each has a smaller council which look

of leicestershire county council has suggested abolishing eight existing authorities in the area, and replacing them with one large council to save money. cash—strapped northamptonshireht not know much about council services but his mum, anna, a gp, relied on her local children's centre when she moved to leicestershire seven years ago. when she went back recently, she found the service had been stripped back. that lack of support means that people are really going to be at risk of postnatal depression and anxiety and those families are really going to suffer because of the cuts. it's a familiar tale across the country as councils struggle to balance the books. leicestershire county council. now some, like leicestershire, are looking at radical solutions to cut back running costs and put more into services. at the moment, one big council, leicester county, covers the whole area and is responsible for major services like social care and highways. but the county is also split into seven districts and each has a smaller council which looks after local services like planning and leisure facilities. my budget pressures are pretty horrendous. the county council leader has s