David Cameron has urged the government to start making budget savings now to ease the pain of what he said were inevitable deep spending cuts later.

David Cameron has urged the government to start making budget savings now to ease the pain of what he said were inevitable deep spending cuts later.

The Tory leader said: "I do think that one of the ways to avoid very deep cuts in the future is to make a start now.

"I do think it is wrong to be going into 2010 with actually quite aggressive spending increases for 2010 when we should be starting to make savings now."

He told the Local Government Association conference in Harrogate, North Yorkshire: "We've got to look the British public in the eye and have an honest conversation about the financial situation. And there's no point pretending, as our Prime Minister does, that it's just not there."

Mr Cameron told delegates he had good news and bad news for local authorities - more devolved power but inevitably tight budgets.

And he said he wanted to move into the "post-bureaucratic age" with a "new era of Google Government".

The Tory leader said this meant he wanted to see a situation where all local authority spending was published online in a move towards greater transparency.

Mr Cameron told the conference: "Today we have, at most, just 11 months before the next General Election.

"There's no doubt that whoever wins that election is going to face the most difficult set of public finances in this country for about 40 years."

He said: "Yes, we are hopeful for growth later this year and there are some brighter signs.

"But we've still got banks that aren't lending, unemployment rising fast and insolvencies going through the roof."

He told the delegates: "What can you expect from me? The first thing I think that you're entitled to is some political leadership. That means a straightforward, candid assessment of the situation we face.

"It is not leadership to deny that our public finances are in a crisis.

"It is not leadership to say that spending on public services is going to rise when it isn't.

"It is not leadership to put off a spending review by saying there are so many uncertainties to take into account when the only certainly is that our country is living way beyond its means, is saddled with a massive debt crisis and desperately needs a strategy to get us out of the hole we're in."

Mr Cameron outlined his party's plans for local government. He said this would mean councils could do "literally what they like as long as it's legal".