Has public spending actually gone down?

摘要

With the age of austerity already growing out of fashion, there are many experts who maintain that it never actually happened anyway, that it has all been smoke and mirrors dreamed up to confuse the markets. I know from my many conversations with council chief executives that real cuts have been made, certainly in management and staffing levels, though so far the public has barely noticed cuts in frontline services because the axe has fallen mainly in the back office. We also know that local government has carried the brunt of the first couple of years of cuts and at The MJ Future Forum this week, May 24-25, we will learn from our expert speakers what lies in store for the next couple of years.