The Chancellor claimed in his budget speech this week that austerity is ending, yet our local councils continue to face tens of millions of pounds of cuts over the next four years; 1.4 million adults who need social care are receiving no support at all; our schools are cutting teacher and teaching assistant posts; police numbers are falling while crime is going up; and our local hospital remains in financial special measures being penalised by the government for not having sufficient funding. The Tories have outsourced austerity to local government and our public services and our communities are living with the consequences every single day.