Spending Review: Public 'in denial' over council cuts

Too many council tax-payers are in denial about government spending cuts, research has found.

Public sector think tank LGinsight described the findings as "shocking" and said more needed to be done by councils to prepare people for cuts.

Only 39% in the North East think council services will be cut and one in 10 across England thinks value for money will increase.

The Spending Review could see cuts of up to 25% to public spending.

Residents in the North East are the least prepared in the country, with as many as one in three adults believing government funding will actually increase over the next 12 months.

The region has the highest concentration of public sector workers in the country.

Lack of trust

Neil Wholey, chair of LGinsight and head of research at Westminster City Council, said: "It's rather shocking. This study shows it is vital that councils and public sector bodies do not assume that residents are well informed about the current national financial situation we are facing.

"Not everyone follows the national news and not everyone seems to be getting the message that for the public sector there are undoubtedly going to be tough times ahead.

"We are going to have to work even harder to get these messages out there or we will risk failing to meet unrealistic resident expectations and subsequently seeing satisfaction with the services that we provide fall to an all time low."

Two in five Londoners do not trust their local council to make the right decisions when is comes to how they spend council tax and only half of people in the east of England believe their council tax will rise in the next 12 months.

LGinsights is made up of local council communication departments across the country and the survey was carried out by Populus.