SOME of the greatest pain in the drive to reduce the UK’s debt mountain will be inflicted by local councils. That’s the way it works.

If you had any doubt about that, then take a look at some of the proposals contained in the report to Dorset County Council’s Cabinet next week. Pick a service – adult or children’s services, highways, libraries and all the rest – and there’s pain and plenty of it.

Such is the scale of the savings the council needs to make that it cannot protect frontline services, so some of Dorset’s most vulnerable residents will be taking a dose of the cutbacks.

Dorset isn’t alone. All councils are in the same boat, but locally the county council has the biggest budget and the largest workforce.

Uniquely in the current circumstances, councillors can pin with good cause, the blame elsewhere for the general mess; either on Labour for racking up the massive deficit in the first place or the Tory- led coalition for trying to slash it too fast and cutting grants.

But they can only get away with this up to a point. Those same councillors – in this case primarily council leader Angus Campbell and resources cabinet member Spencer Flower – need to convince people they have got their priorities right.

Given the size and range of proposed cuts to frontline services, they will have a major sell-ing job on their hands.

This may not be their fault, but they must still justify their response.