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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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Brexit, GE17 and Beyond Top down Economic Regeneration: ‘that growth was never for me anyway’
Yesterday NLGN hosted a roundtable with senior local government executives and a handful of academics to discuss ‘place based policy’ after Brexit. The starting point of the discussion was...
By Abigail Gilbert, Researcher, NLGN
21st April, 2017
NLGN’s Manifesto for localising GE17: Devolution
One entirely unforeseen consequence of last year’s referendum was the brakes being put on the devolution locomotive. Despite Government protestations to the contrary, May and Hammond have shown little...
By Adam Lent, Director, NLGN
19th April, 2017
Devolution • Devolution and reorganisation • Political Systems
NLGN’s Manifesto for localising GE17: Public Services
Like it or not this will be the Brexit Election: a strange sort of quasi-referendum on the decision made in a previous referendum and everything that has happened since....
By Adam Lent, Director, NLGN
18th April, 2017
Devolution • Devolution and reorganisation • Political Systems
International Lessons for Place-based Health
NLGN’s recent Place-based Health conference brought together many experts in local and national healthcare to discuss the need to move away from reactive health services, towards holistic, place-based systems...
By Sam Shorto, Former Events & External Affairs Assistant, NLGN
6th April, 2017
Making Brexit Work Locally
The letter has been sent. The deed is done. But today is really just the beginning. Whether you are watching today’s events begrudging, jubilantly, with denial, or even boredom...
By Xilonem Clarke and Claire Mansfield
29th March, 2017
Creating ‘place’ in seven steps
In recent years, the word ‘place’ has become a bit of a buzzword in the local government sector. Terms like ‘place-leadership’, ‘place-branding’ and ‘place-building’ are now ubiquitous in strategy...
By David Evans, Director and Daniel Jackson, Head of Research, The Campaign Company
27th March, 2017
New developments are strong, resilient communities – not just a collection of buildings
At Essex County Council we are passionate about making a positive contribution to the lives of Essex residents and businesses. It is what we exist for. The qualities of...
By Cllr David Finch
23rd March, 2017
Collaboration – the way forward to deliver Tomorrow’s Places
Local government faces a funding gap of £5.8 billion by 2019/20. At the launch of NLGN’s latest research report Tomorrow’s Places, Theo Blackwell, Councillor at LB Camden, stated “Technology...
By Robert Cunliffe, Sales and Marketing Director - Cities & Communities, ENGIE
22nd March, 2017
Stop partnering, start doing
Most councils indulge in partnerships, but how many actually achieve what they were set up to do? As a county council, our oldest partnership is with our unitary city...
By Ian Parry, Deputy Leader, Staffordshire Council
16th March, 2017
trust, politics and social care in an age of fake news
I know someone who’s renowned for his scepticism. The only problem is, he’s now so sceptical that he doesn’t feel able to trust anything. People who post videos on...
By Alex Fox OBE
15th March, 2017
Achieving gender equality ‘is not the responsibility of women alone’
“Too many areas of policy covered by local government are male dominated – infrastructure, highways, planning… the most important thing is to put women in positions of responsibility in...
By Claire Porter, The Planner
14th March, 2017
“Cities are designed by men, for men”: why local government needs more female leadership
Cities are largely designed by men, and for men. There is nothing unusual in this – we instinctively design, plan and make policy that reflects our own experiences and...
By Claire Porter, Citymetric
10th March, 2017
Budget reaction: Short term fixes or long term solutions?
The Chancellor’s first Budget, and the first following the UK’s decision to leave the EU, needed to shore up the domestic economy, particularly against structural challenges of weak productivity...
By Jessica Studdert, Deputy Director
8th March, 2017
Finance • Local government finance • Policy • Politics • Public Services
We must maintain pressure for gender equality
It is true that instead of being a hierarchical old boys’ club in the same way as many industries, local government has become significantly more open and approachable, reducing...
By Claire Porter, LGC
8th March, 2017
Robots may not be ready to run a council, but they’re already helping
Disruptive, cognitive technology will be a major driver of change in our economy over the next decade, as Artificial Intelligence becomes more accessible to UK organisations, very quickly. This...
By John Wybrant, Key Account Director, Public Sector, at business process outsourcing partner Arvato
28th February, 2017
This complacent Financial Settlement for Local Government comes with huge ethical and political risks.
Yesterday’s NLGN Annual Conference came with a painful sting in the tail. The day was dominated by talk of creativity and collaboration – bursting with ideas about how technology,...
By Adam Lent, Director, NLGN
22nd February, 2017
Budgeting • Finance • Local government finance • Public Services
Losing Political Office
What happens to council leaders after they leave their leadership role? How do they adjust? Do they stay in politics? What employment do they find? I suspect that you...
By Jane Roberts, Palgrave Macmillan
10th February, 2017
Leadership is still missing to implement housing change
If solving the housing crisis was a simple case of fixing legislation or introducing incentives for builders, the housing crisis would have been fixed ages ago, or never reached...
By Claire Porter, in 24 Housing
10th February, 2017
Bridging gaps in Hepatitis C awareness and diagnosis
If ever there was an area of healthcare where place-based care could have a major impact on local public health gains it is the identification and treatment of hepatitis...
By Sarah Keidel, HCV Medical Manager, AbbVie UK
9th February, 2017
We need politicians to be really honest with people: on the gaps in the housing white paper
This was not a housing white paper that would see the chancellor in a hard hat being gleefully greeted by a happy major house builder. The narrative is markedly...
By Claire Porter, Head of External Affairs, Adam Lent, Director, New Local Government Network
8th February, 2017
the case for place: making health and care reform a reality
England’s health and social care crisis is not only financial – it is a challenge to politics and society too. It represents a crisis of confidence about doing what...
By Dr Henry Kippin, Chief Executive, Collaborate and Jessica Studdert, Deputy Director, NLGN
2nd February, 2017
Creative, courageous and innovative – the council workforce of tomorrow
Councils are changing. Prompted by the funding cuts of the last decade, they have had to transform. No longer just seen as service deliverers, they are becoming collaborators, place...
By Lucy Terry, Senior Researcher and Claire Mansfield, Head of Research, NLGN
1st February, 2017
A more collaborative immigration policy?
For many years national politicians have avoided the question of ‘British Identity’ as connected to a set of values or principles. Instead, ‘we’ have known ourselves through economic terms,...
By Abigail Gilbert, Researcher, NLGN
1st February, 2017
Homelessness: prevention is better than cure
Homelessness receives a lot of media and policy attention this time of year, as the effects of sleeping rough are all too apparent. As it gets colder, and floods...
By Lucy Terry, Senior Researcher
25th January, 2017
Post-Brexit Britain: we need bespoke and locally-made policy responses
Local government officials and to a degree local politicians are often praised for their realism. For example, in the light of sustained spending cuts local government since 2010 local...
By Professor Gerry Stoker, University of Southampton
24th January, 2017
The government’s new industrial strategy needs to create a cultural transformation, as much as an economic one
It’s a chilly January day, and the government has just broken with its previous laissez-faire approach and announced a bold, interventionist plan to boost the UK’s economy at a...
By Adam Lent, Director, NLGN
24th January, 2017
Developing a creed to lead
Councils are changing. No longer just seen as service deliverers, they are collaborators and place leaders, commissioning councils, commercial councils and co-operative councils. But while the purpose and priorities...
By Claire Mansfield, Head of Research
18th January, 2017
Undivided attention? A guide to devolution and why it matters.
English devolution is back in the spotlight. As the Government prepares to publish a White Paper to set out its “offer for enhanced devolution across England”, we at NLGN...
1st January, 1970
Councils and COVID-19: The Response – Edition #3
Local authorities are indispensable in our current crisis and are therefore under enormous pressure. They manage the public services that people are increasingly reliant on, support the most vulnerable...
1st January, 1970
Digital Leadership blog post for Insights Report launch
Some may remember when the phrase ‘commissioning’ entered the local government lexicon. It meant something different to almost everyone; yet it evolved into a way of working rather than...
By Capita
1st January, 1970
Councils and COVID-19: The Response – Edition #3
Local authorities are indispensable in our current crisis and are therefore under enormous pressure. They manage the public services that people are increasingly reliant on, support the most vulnerable...
1st January, 1970