The state government has been running a large-scale campaign of council mergers.
She acknowledged that the scale of parish-council decision-making is "easy to laugh at" but said that "part of the point is that those decisions that are being made do dramatically affect people's lives, up to life and death sometimes".
The challenges most frequently mentioned by our members are the scale of financial cuts to council budgets, the impact of recession and welfare changes on people's health, and concerns about being able to recruit and retain the skilled workforce they need to do the job effectively.
"The scale of the cuts the council is facing following the loss of millions of pounds of government grants will affect every service we provide, and every penny we have must be spent on protecting essential services and not wasted on needless bureaucracy.
At the other end of the scale, Trafford council in Greater Manchester was rated "good" (pdf) when it was inspected early this year.
The research argues that official figures are masking the true scale of the problem, as councils are increasingly using informal approaches to tackle homelessness - such as assisting people with debt advice, help to stay in a tenancy or family mediation.
Despite the scale of the operation by Basildon council, which includes a camp to accommodate bailiffs, police, council staff and the hundreds of journalists from around the world covering the case, it took three individuals, without the aid of a lawyer, to put a stop to their plans.
Mr Kitcat said the council tax increase was "modest" and would not cover the full scale of financial pressures on the council.
"As part of this year's budget discussions we held budget engagement events across the county and shared our proposals with group leaders and all elected members as early as possible so that they could appreciate the scale of the challenges facing the council".
At the other end of the income scale, young people would struggle because of a shortage of council homes and benefit changes, he added.
