The Oxford Mail has published an exchange of letters between David Cameron and the Conservative leader of his local council, Ian Hudspeth, in which the prime minister expresses his concern about cuts to local services. In reply, the council leader politely explains that he is simply implementing the prime minister’s policies and that the amount he needs to save means that frontline services will inevitable be hit.

David Cameron tells the council chief that he is “disappointed” by the scale of the proposed cuts and asks him why he can’t make savings to back office services instead.

There is sense of deja vu about all this. David Cameron was banging on about back office savings five years ago. The problem is, councils have already made most of the back office savings they can safely get away with. As the council leader explains, Oxfordshire has done all the things the government recommended. It has set…