Why hasn't the government told me my taxes won't support child protection after 2020?

Cuts in funding from central to local government can be difficult to spot. Changes like the one planned for 2020 tend to be described as 'freeing up' local authorities to retain their local rates and ending 'dependency' on a centralised system.

Greg Clark, then Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, explained in the 2016-17 local government finance settlement: "Ultimately, Revenue Support Grant* will disappear altogether, as we move to 100% business rates retention."

What isn't mentioned is that this means people's income tax, still gathered by central government, is no longer being spent on the services we expect, and that what we're losing is the vital redistributive power of national, needs-based funding to every area in the country.

*Funding from central to local government is brought together in the 'formula grant' and has comprised varying proportions of the Revenue Support Grant and business rates over the years.