But the council’s failure to bend the arc on rates rises down to a more palatable annual level of 2 to 3 per cent can be firmly sheeted home to its unwillingness to right-size the ship.
You’ll recall that the council chief executive, Dawn Baxendale, sought to hose down last year’s concerns about the lack of rates relief as the pandemic hit, by talking a big game about her “root and branch” spending review.
Expectations were high that the council’s new broom would drive robust change to the cost-plus mentality. But how many limbs have been lopped off?