research by the university of cambridge published in 2018 said that the greatest reductions in local authority spending had occurred in impoverished post-industrial cities in the north of england and some poor inner london boroughs. over 30 such authorities in england had reduced spending by more than 30% between 2010 and 2017, with seven of them reducing spending by more than 40%. in contrast councils in wealthier areas had made smaller reductions. councils in england experienced an average spending reduction of 24% compared to 12% in scotland and 11.5% in wales, the difference resulting from devolved government in those nations.