It’s easy to be critical, isn’t it?

We all do it. Something isn’t to our liking so we have a good moan, especially if we are paying for it.

This thought crossed my mind when I read an article on the Guardian’s website about Cheshire East Council’s current (and future) financial woes.

This is how the story goes, as written by Local Democracy Service reporter Belinda Ryan: “Cheshire East has come under fire from residents this year for increasing council tax by the maximum permitted while cutting back on services at the same time.

“The council is also introducing its highly unpopular green bin charge from January and consulting on hiking up parking charges – while reducing library opening hours and closing some services, such as a centre in Knutsford for adults with learning difficulties.”

All pretty grim so it’s no wonder some Cheshire East residents are unhappy. 'Pay more, get less' isn’t exactly a winning slogan.

The problem is there is a perfectly logical and reasonable explanation for this pretty dire state of affairs but if you think things are bad now, there’s more coming down the track.

The council has announced it is facing a potential budget deficit of £12.8m by the end of the financial year despite all the cuts already made.

The council is still looking to make further savings and increase its income.

So you can expect prices and charges for council services to go up; a partial freeze on recruitment – with a focus on recruiting for statutory or income-generating roles only; a review of all council contracts with suppliers and contractors; a close look at how the council accounts for spending on projects and other day-to-day spending and a ‘continued rationalisation of the council’s estate’.

Do I blame Cheshire East or any other council for being in a financial predicament? No I don’t.

As director of finance Alex Thompson told the Cheshire East’s corporate policy committee: “The forecast is affected by a number of national issues, so we are finding inflation is continuing to remain high, interest rates are being put up…but also there is a continued increasing demand for our key services. That is a situation that is occurring up and down the country.”

What he didn’t say, of course, is that the dire straits many councils now find themselves in is also a direct result of 13 years of Conservative government austerity.

As the institute for government says: “The fall in [local government] spending power is largely because of reductions in central government grants. These grants were cut by 40 per cent in real terms between 2009/10 and 2019/20, from £46.5bn to £28.0bn (2023/24 prices).

“This downward trend was reversed in 2020/21 and 2021/22 as central government made more grant funding available to local government in response to the pressures of the pandemic.

“Even including Covid grants, the fall in grant income was still 21 per cent in real terms between 2009/10 and 2021/22. Without the Covid grants, the fall was 31 per cent.”

So the government effectively shifted the effects of austerity on to local councils, took away somewhere between 30 and 40 per cent of their grant funding and stood back and watched as council taxpayers up and down the country blamed councils for putting up council tax while cutting services.

Of course, the effects of inflation and high interest rates are now beginning to bite and bite deeply with all those years of austerity finally reaching the logical conclusion – councils just can’t make the sums add up and are going bust.

According to theguardian.com, at least 26 councils in some of Britain’s most deprived areas are at risk of effective bankruptcy within the next two years. It reports that a leading local government group says many authorities simply have 'nothing left'.

The world of local government and its finances have been rocked by a series of financial collapses in the past two years, starting with Slough and followed by Croydon, Thurrock, Woking – which announced a deficit of £1.2bn in June after a risky investment spree – and most recently Birmingham City Council, the largest local authority in the country, which in effect declared itself bankrupt after issuing a section 114 notice, signalling that it does not have the resources to balance its budget.

Birmingham council leaders blamed a £760m bill for equal pay claims, problems installing a new IT system and £1bn in government cuts over the past decade.

And these could just be the tip of the iceberg, according to a survey of 47 councils in northern England, the Midlands and on the south coast, which revealed fears that rising costs will blow irreparable holes in budgets that fund crucial local services.

So maybe Cheshire East or Cheshire West and Chester, or any other council for that matter, aren’t the real culprits here.

Can I humbly suggest the blame lies with 13 years of Tory austerity?