It's not the budget. It's the hidden cuts to services, the declining maintenance to infrastructure, the privatization of essentials. Those are the licks they take from the pot, while they tell you the pot is still full.
[1]https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/175/grimms-fairy-tales/3068/cat-a...
(edit, this isn't for the UK, but fat cats abound!)
It doesn't matter how public it is. It matters whether the public actually knows about it and understands it.