Revitalised local government is essential if many of the government's aims are to succeed. Public faith in politicians and their institutions is fragile. The need to restore the link in people's minds between their vote and the services that affect their lives is urgent. Local democracy is the place to start.

However, the extra funding announced for local authorities does not solve councils' problems. For some, it won't even put them on hold.

Those facing steep improvement curves, particularly where instability in staffing is a factor in poor performance, will have difficulty investing in staff, particularly given the demand for efficiency savings.

In the longer term, this cycle of short-term funding demands from local government and threats of capping from the centre, undermines local democracy and the relationship between central and local government.

The solution is what councils advocate: a restoration of the link between locally accountable decisions and locally raised funds to implement them. It is to be hoped that the Lyons review of local government funding will support this.

But even if it does, there is a danger that the government's impetus towards greater localism which sidesteps local democracy, along with constant short-term wrangling over money, will have dealt a fatal blow to the public's perception of local government before the Lyons review can be implemented.