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Our latest blogs, long-reads, videos and podcasts about all-things community power, local government, public services, and more.
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Why staff are eyes and ears of our communities
We know our staff are our biggest asset and at a time of limited resources we need to ensure we are utilising their full potential. We deploy operational staff...
By Paul Barton, Director of Environment, Wigan Council
30th April, 2018
It’s time for the Government to stop ignoring councils on Brexit
The UK Government has consistently maintained that there is ongoing dialogue with local government on Brexit. However, there are growing question marks over the extent to which this ‘dialogue’...
By Charlotte Morgan, Policy Researcher, NLGN
26th April, 2018
The BNP may have gone but communities are more vulnerable to unforeseen sparks
This article first appeared in the LGC on 17 April 2018 The news that the British National Party no longer has any representation in local government following the resignation...
By Adam Lent, Director, NLGN
18th April, 2018
Is Extra Funding for the NHS the Right Call?
How should we regard the NHS as it celebrates its 70th year? A much-loved elderly aunt who offers nothing but care and support to an increasingly demanding family despite...
By Adam Lent, Director, NLGN. First appeared in LGC
29th March, 2018
Council tax disparity – a cause for concern?
Yesterday (28 March), the Government released Council Tax statistics for 2018/19. It won’t surprise you to know that the majority of local authorities have taken advantage of the additional...
By Dan Bates, pixelfinancial
29th March, 2018
What’s the sexiest job in local government?
I know what you’re thinking. Where to start, right? The sector is full of glamour. There’s the high-flying chief executive, at the pinnacle of a local government career –...
By Jessica Studdert, Deputy Director, NLGN
2nd March, 2018
Mainstreaming Social Value in Councils
Social value in commissioning and procurement is important because it considers the role of spending on services to improve economic, social, and environmental wellbeing in an area. These often...
By Pawda Tjoa, Senior Researcher, NLGN
28th February, 2018
Making a difference with social value
The Public Services (Social Value) Act was designed to encourage those commissioning public services to think beyond short-term financial costs, to how they could use their contracts to drive...
By Sarah Fraser, Head of the Willmott Dixon Foundation
29th January, 2018
What’s the point of Croydon?
It’s interesting finding out what others think of your workplace. I searched for “Croydon” to try to get a sense of an outsider’s perspective. Recently, it was about how...
By Julian Ellerby, Director of Strategy and Partnerships, London Borough of Croydon
11th January, 2018
The NHS at 70: We need to look beyond the symptoms of this patient in distress
The “NHS at breaking point” media furore has become a fixture on our winter calendar as regular as Christmas and New Year. Hospitals at full capacity, patients experiencing substandard...
By Jessica Studdert, Deputy Director, NLGN
3rd January, 2018
Share the Health: Extending the reach of public health to economic development
It’s hard to find a part of local government that doesn’t affect our health in some way. From support for children and parents, to the maintenance of local parks...
By Lucy Terry, Senior Researcher
4th December, 2017
Overcoming barriers to inclusive growth in practice
Last week’s Budget confirmed more grim economic news. Downgraded forecasts predict sluggish growth into the 2020s and productivity remains stagnant, and with it living standards which have now plateaued...
By Jessica Studdert, Deputy Director, NLGN
29th November, 2017
What does the Industrial Strategy: Building a Britain fit for the future mean for local government?
Reading the Industrial Strategy: Building a Britain fit for the future, published this morning, was no mean feat. From tackling the ageing population to transforming cities, its breadth is...
By Molly Jarritt, NLGN
27th November, 2017
Budget 2017: The only certainty for local government is continued uncertainty
This article was first published in Civil Service World. The Budget was a mixed bag for local government. Councils face financial uncertainty after 2020, with grant funding still reducing,...
By Jessica Studdert, Deputy Director, NLGN
22nd November, 2017
An agenda-shifting Budget – if a little underwhelming
This was first published in the MJ This was the moment a British government finally got serious about the most pressing social problem facing the UK: our dysfunctional housing...
By Adam Lent, Director, NLGN
22nd November, 2017
The Public Sector Reform Recipe for Success
In 2012, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said that Wigan Council was the third worst affected council by austerity in the UK. We realised that we couldn’t continue to...
By Donna Hall
13th November, 2017
The devolution drive has become devolution drift. This must change if we’re really to take back control after Brexit
The prospect of “taking back control” motivated many who voted to Leave in the EU Referendum. Whether it was the institutions of Brussels, the policies of the EU or...
By Jessica Studdert, Deputy Director, Published in Conservative Home
11th November, 2017
Brexit • Devolution • Devolution and reorganisation • Politics
Why is the demand for Children’s Services rising?
This blog is the first in a new series which will attempt to highlight key trends that may help identify the causes behind the continued rise in the demand...
By Pawda Tjoa, Senior Researcher, NLGN
13th October, 2017
Are we prepared for the looming tech revolution?
Elysium is a big star sci-fi action movie from 2013, which even its director admitted was pretty mediocre. But in among the one-dimensional characters and gore-filled explosions there is...
By Adam Lent, Director, NLGN Published in The MJ
13th September, 2017
Government must invest in early help as it does in infrastructure
The pressure on the chancellor to ease austerity is intensifying by the day, with increasingly noisy calls for a more doveish approach from within his own party. This nervousness...
By Adam Lent and Robert Pollock, Director, Social Finance, published in LGC
6th September, 2017
Should local government be concerned about recent trend change in its reserves balance?
In 2013, Eric Pickles accused local government of ‘hypocrisy’ for ‘pleading poverty when they have trebled their cash reserves over the last decade’.1 But last week, DCLG released data...
By Pawda Tjoa, Senior Researcher, NLGN
31st August, 2017
ELIMINATING HEPATITIS C: A MOVE TOWARDS PLACE-BASED HEALTH DELIVERY IN THE UK
In the UK, we’ve been talking for some time now about place-based ‘systems of care’. These are born out of collaboration with other NHS organisations and services to address...
By Stuart Smith, Head of Drug & Alcohol Services, The Hepatitis C Trust
28th July, 2017
How can Britain rebuild its civil society?
“How can we continue to secure the dignity, wellbeing and happiness of people after nearly a decade of cuts?” pondered the Chief Executive of one London council at a...
By Abigail Gilbert, published in CityMetric
18th July, 2017
Charities • Community Power • Third sector and civil society
Sajid Javid can rebuild his relationship with local government but it will take more than words
Last night he was shouting obscenities up at the bedroom window. Now, after a cold night on the doorstep, he’s saying he loves us and is begging for forgiveness...
By Adam Lent, Director, New Local Government Network
14th July, 2017
How collaboration can boost productivity in public services
Mainly due to budget cuts over the past seven years, councils have become more efficient in how they work. But a new approach is needed in order to boost...
By Lucy Terry, Senior Researcher
11th July, 2017
Why I swapped the global for the local
This week, Richard Nelmes joined the NLGN team as Head of Network, following almost a decade at the United Nations Association. The United Nations is a global body of...
By Richard Nelmes, Head of Network, NLGN
20th June, 2017
Three priorities for Sajid Javid
Having first assumed his role as communities secretary and local government last year as the aftershocks of the Brexit vote reverberated, Sajid Javid’s reappointment last week came at no...
By Jessica Studdert, Deputy Director, Published in LGC
19th June, 2017
National Carers Week: Identifying Young Carers
This blog is for Carers Week, an annual campaign to raise awareness of carers, the challenges they face, and the contribution they make to society. There is no doubt...
By Shahnaz Yasmin, Events Officer
16th June, 2017
What does the DUP’s manifesto mean for local government?
Many of us knew little about the DUP until Friday morning, but now it looks as if they will be instrumental in forming a functioning government. Now is a...
By Emma Rosen, Research Assistant, NLGN
13th June, 2017
Political uncertainty must not mean backsliding on social care reform
Theresa May is not the only potential casualty of this election. The social care issue has taken a pretty severe political beating as well. After May promised not to...
By Adam Lent, Director, NLGN, Published in The MJ
9th June, 2017
Health and social care • Political Systems • Politics • Social Care
What does the election result mean for councils?
Whatever their party allegiance, I suspect councillors and officers everywhere will be scratching their heads about what this unexpected outcome means for local government. On one hand, this result...
By Adam Lent, Director, NLGN, Published in LGC
9th June, 2017
What do the party manifestos mean for local government?
What do all the party’s election manifestos say for local government? We’ve picked out all the relevant issues in the posts below: what does Labours manifesto mean for local...
By NLGN
7th June, 2017
Manifesto Insight: What Labour offers local government
At this General Election, local government is at crossroads, with the two main parties offering very different directions for the future of councils and the communities they serve. The...
By Cllr Richard Watts
6th June, 2017
Manifesto Insight: Conservatives are right to elevate the issue of social care
The Prime Minister is right in elevating social care to one of this election’s defining issues – reflecting the very need for radical change that many of us have...
By Cllr Paul Carter, Leader, Kent County Council
5th June, 2017
THE KEY TO BUILDING STRONG WORKING PARTNERSHIPS? FIRM FOUNDATIONS
What’s clear from this report is that there is an appetite in the worlds of both health and social care for greater integration to deliver a more joined-up care...
By Simon Goacher, Partner and Head of Local Government, Weightmans
31st May, 2017
Communicating devolution: A guide to keeping it simple
The local elections earlier this month saw several city regions elect first time Metro Mayors. The turnout in places like Manchester (29%), where Andy Burnham was elected, was pretty...
By David Evans, Director, The Campaign Company
30th May, 2017
What does UKIP’s Manifesto Mean for Local Government?
UKIP support has grown out of local opposition to the effects of a globalised economy, channelled through its anti-EU stance. Perhaps unsurprisingly then, following the public vote to Brexit...
By Abigail Gilbert, Researcher, NLGN
30th May, 2017
The Cooperative Party Manifesto: What it Means for Local Government
Like the Green or Women’s Equality Parties, the Cooperative Party Manifesto was written with an explicit desire for its policies to be adopted by another party. But unlike them,...
By Abigail Gilbert, Researcher, NLGN
24th May, 2017
What does the Green Party manifesto mean for councils?
The likelihood of this manifesto being enacted is probably about the same as aliens invading Britain the same day you’re struck by lightning and win the lottery jackpot. As...
By Shahnaz Yasmin, Events Officer
22nd May, 2017
Finance • Local government finance • Politics • Public Services
Devolution is now at the mercy of the bureaucrats
After months of worry, devolution’s loved ones finally got some news from Dr May. The patient, it turns out, isn’t terminal, but sadly there will be no return to...
By Adam Lent, director, New Local Government Network
21st May, 2017
The Tory social care policy is a stinker, but what else is on offer?
First the good news. We’re having a vibrant debate about social care funding slap bang in the middle of an election campaign. Now the bad news: the policy that...
By Adam Lent, Director, NLGN
19th May, 2017
What does the Conservative Manifesto mean for Councils?
Manifestos are always launched with a certain amount of excitement, but none more so than the Conservative Manifesto this morning. While the Lib Dem’s manifesto explicitly positioned them as...
By Claire Mansfield, Head of Research, NLGN
18th May, 2017
What does the Liberal Democrats Manifesto mean for Councils?
Reading the Labour manifesto was a bit like watching a magician determined to show you every trick they have ever learned as quickly as possible moving from disappearing an...
By Adam Lent, Director, NLGN
17th May, 2017
What does the Labour Manifesto mean for Councils?
I was planning for this to be a blog about the implications of Labour’s freshly leaked manifesto for local government. As it turns out this is a very difficult...
By Adam Lent, Director, NLGN
17th May, 2017
NLGN thoughts on the Women’s Equality Party manifesto
The Women’s Equality Party manifesto was published late on Friday, and unlike other party manifestos, has been expressly drafted with the intention for other parties to adopt its policies....
By Claire Porter, Head of External Affairs
16th May, 2017
May must come clean on social care
The issues crying out for solutions in this election remain woefully unaddressed. For years the UK has struggled with a rapidly ageing population, an unbalanced economy and a mess...
By Adam Lent, Director, NLGN
16th May, 2017
We need flexible, adaptive services that meet complex needs
The links between problems like homelessness, substance misuse, mental ill health, violence,domestic abuse and extreme poverty often go unrecognised by services and systems mostly designed to deal with one...
By Claire Mansfield, Head of Research
10th May, 2017
The new mayors will need to collaborate to have impact
After years in the offing, the election of the first wave of new metro-mayors means this once theoretical tier of governance has now become a group of six actual...
By Jessica Studdert, Deputy Director
5th May, 2017
NLGN’s manifesto for localising GE17: Fiscal devolution
We need to talk about fiscal devolution. Fiscal devolution is an issue that national politicians won’t touch even with someone else’s bargepole. So scared are they of the electorate...
By Jessica Studdert, Deputy Director, NLGN
28th April, 2017
Devolution • Devolution and reorganisation • Finance • Local government finance
The Three futures for Local Government
Since Theresa May took over as Prime Minister, local councils have increasingly understood that their future now resides in their own hands. The devolution agenda, once driven by the...
By Adam Lent, Director, NLGN
24th April, 2017
Finance • Local government finance • Politics • Public Services