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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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Three keys to thriving community businesses
Community businesses can reap huge dividends for local areas. But how do we unlock their potential? And what role can local government play in this? Power to Change's Chief...
By Tim Davies-Pugh
21st June, 2023
Community business • Community Power • Economy and business • Local economies
We’ve assembled a rebel alliance – but their ideas should be mainstream
Radical change in public services is still an uphill struggle. National and local leaders need to make sure they are enabling not blocking the innovators.
8th June, 2023
“Soft light, not the spotlight”: How to make a community-powered leader
Community power calls for a new mould of leader. But what does this actually look like in practice? We asked some of our Stronger Things audience for their insights,...
1st June, 2023
How can local areas ‘design out’ severe hardship? A new framework
In collaboration with The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, we have developed a framework to support local areas to make progress towards designing out the most severe forms of hardship.
10th May, 2023
Central government • Community Power • Local government • Participation and co-production • poverty • Public Services
Fiscal Devolution: why we need it and how to make it work
How wealth is distributed and how much power local areas have over spending is fundamental to growing the economy. Here's how to make fiscal devolution work.
26th April, 2023
Devolution • Devolution and reorganisation • Explainer • Local government finance • Local government reform
Why you can’t afford to miss Stronger Things 2023
Hear why we think Stronger Things might just be the most valuable eight hours of your year.
21st April, 2023
Central government • Community Power • Health and social care • Local government • Public Services • Stronger Things
We need a fundamentally different approach to public sector leadership
Leading under pressure needs to become a discipline in itself, argues Adam Lent.
17th April, 2023
Central government • Community Power • Leadership • Local government • Public Services
Levelling Up – The labour market and health of the nation
In recent years we’ve seen a continued and increasing link between health and economic outcomes, brought into sharp focus by COVID-19. Imran Hashmi and Laura Charlesworth examine what this...
14th March, 2023
Covid-19 • Disabilities • Economy and business • Employment • Health and social care • Inequality • Mental health • Public Health
The chancellor needs to prioritise resilience
Ahead of the Spring Budget, Joe Sarling makes the case for a new economic vision with resilience at its heart.
13th March, 2023
Budgeting • Central government • Economy and business • Finance • Local government finance • Policy • Public Services • Resilience
Does economic growth lead to higher happiness?
Imran Hashmi unpacks the relationship between economic growth and wellbeing, arguing that local people should be at the heart of decisions about economic policy in their area.
9th March, 2023
Community Power • Economy and business • Local government • Policy • Wellbeing
How we lost sight of the point of public services: The case for whole system reform moving towards strengths-based and relational services
In the first instalment of our New Thinking series, Alex Fox and Chris Fox examine the state of public services in the UK today, and make the case for...
By Alex Fox and Chris Fox
2nd March, 2023
Central government • Community Power • Local government reform • Public Services
The Welsh Wellbeing of Future Generations Act has lessons for us all
Polly Lord sets out five lessons for England from the Welsh Wellbeing of Future Generations Act.
28th February, 2023
The Westminster bubble must be burst
The centre has lost its ability to govern and radical change is needed, writes Adam Lent.
14th February, 2023
Central government • Community Power • Devolution • Local government
Community engagement and the power of ‘what if?’
New Local’s Polly Lord and Tom Chigbo from TPXimpact share some of the learnings from their research on innovative community engagement, carried out with the LGA.
By Tom Chigbo and Polly Lord
7th February, 2023
Community engagement • Community Power • Innovation • Participation and co-production • Whole Council Approach
How building trust can help tackle health inequalities
Drawing on recent work in Edmonton, North London, Nicola Steuer charts an impactful and cost-effective route for Integrated Care Systems to tackle health inequalities.
17th January, 2023
Community engagement • Community Power • Community Voices • Health and social care • Participation and co-production
Labour’s Take Back Control Bill needs to truly empower communities
Labour need to think beyond the boundaries of normal institutional reform and turbocharge the imaginative change already happening on the ground, writes Adam Lent.
17th January, 2023
Central government • Community Power • Engagement • Local government
How could a new Bill enable people to Take Back Control? Moving from slogan to solution
Polly Lord outlines what's needed in any Take Back Control Bill to make it meaningful for communities.
13th January, 2023
Investing in the future of our communities – Polly Lord in conversation with Matt Leach
What is the Community Wealth Fund, and what would it mean for local authorities? Polly Lord talks to Matt Leach, CEO of Local Trust, about the campaign.
16th December, 2022
Community Power • Local government • Local government finance
Don’t kill all the bees – what crises teach us about the dangers of a centralised response
Dr Simon Duffy takes a look at the benefits of trusting citizens to support each other as shown by the COVID pandemic.
By Dr Simon Duffy
8th December, 2022
Gordon Brown’s report should warm the heart of every localist
Adam Lent argues the former prime minister has produced the most radical devolutionary programme from either of the two big parties in decades, but far less ambitious plans than...
7th December, 2022
Community Power • Devolution • Local government • Local government reform
A report on the UK’s Future worthy of the name
Jessica Studdert reacts to Labour’s latest proposals to reform the UK constitution.
6th December, 2022
There’s a new model for town centre regeneration – and it starts with a visionary council
How can councils turn town centre buildings into vibrant community-led hubs that benefit local people and strengthen the local economy?
By Bex Trevalyan
2nd December, 2022
Asset transfer • Council Voices • Innovation • Place building
Short term protection but long term problems
Laura Charlesworth unpacks what the Autumn Statement means for a health and care system in crisis.
18th November, 2022
The Autumn Statement will push public services over their tipping point
Adam Lent argues that without a much smarter approach, the quality of public services will continue to deteriorate rapidly. The consequences will be profound.
18th November, 2022
Budgeting • Central government • Local government • Public Services • Social Care
Chancellor’s Autumn Statement 2022 – what does it mean for local government?
Here’s our snapshot on what the Autumn Statement means for local government.
17th November, 2022
Budgeting • Central government • Local government • Public Services • Social Care
The Story of Lily and Muhammed
Ahead of the Autumn Statement, Polly Lord examines the potential human impact of cuts to our public services.
16th November, 2022
Budgeting • Economy and business • Local government • Public Services
Cuts or unsustainable spending? There is an alternative
Ahead of the Autumn Statement, Adam Lent argues that we need a bold, national ‘invest-to-save’ programme for public services funded by taxes on the wealthiest.
14th November, 2022
Elon Musk and the Spiralling ‘Tragedy of the Private’
Adam Lent argues that in a permacrisis era, it is the privately owned that is proving fragile not the public and the common.
11th November, 2022
The time has come to celebrate local leadership
With trust in national politicians reaching new lows, Polly Lord argues that councils are stepping up (again) to lead their local areas through the current crisis.
8th November, 2022
Community engagement • Community Power • Leadership • Local government
Local government finance: what a difference a year makes
One year on from the spending review, Polly Lord looks at the current picture of public service funding ahead of anticipated cuts in the Autumn budget
27th October, 2022
Budgeting • Central government • Community Power • Economy and business • Local government finance
Is it time to retire the term ‘left behind’?
How do people from post-industrial areas – and other economically disadvantaged communities – feel about being labelled ‘left behind’? What could a more inclusive, representative vocabulary look like? James...
By James Morrison
13th October, 2022
The real Tragedy of the Commons
As MPs return to Parliament, and in the wake of an economic orthodoxy overhaul, Polly Lord examines the ‘tragedy of the commons’ phenomenon - arguing that the real tragedy...
7th October, 2022
Politicians of all parties say they will deliver economic growth. What if that isn’t possible anymore?
Adam Lent argues that in an era of repeated crises, Chancellors will ultimately have to focus more on delivering resilience than growth.
6th October, 2022
Budgeting • Central government • Climate change • Economy and business
It’s the power of communities, not fancy slogans, that will help save our NHS
Building a community-powered NHS that is capable of supporting good health in neighbourhoods and reducing demand pressures on hospitals has never been more needed. But it goes against all...
4th October, 2022
Animation: A Community-Powered NHS
We know the diagnosis: the NHS is at risk from ever-increasing demand. We need a new approach to healthcare that makes prevention a reality – by putting communities first.
4th October, 2022
Community engagement • Community Power • Explainer • Health and social care • Video
A resilient house needs strong foundations
Joe Sarling explains how the relentless focus on economic growth with central interventions at the expense of communities erodes the very things that would foster resilience, growth and thriving...
30th September, 2022
Budgeting • Central government • Economy and business • Levelling Up • Local government
Growth Plan 2022 – A gamble too far?
In response to the Chancellor’s Growth Plan, we set out some of the key announcements that could impact councils up and down the country.
23rd September, 2022
Budgeting • Central government • Economy and business • Health and social care • Levelling Up • Local government
How We Did It: Poverty Truth Commission
In the latest of our ‘How We Did It’ event series, Claire Vibert shares her experience of setting up and running a complex and collaborative Poverty Truth Commission in...
20th September, 2022
Community engagement • Community Voices • How to guide • Interview • Poverty and inequality
How might a local area stop people experiencing deep poverty and destitution – and what would this look like?
The current cost-of-living crisis adds to the urgency to not only mitigate the impact of poverty, but to fundamentally rethink how systems can prevent people falling into the deepest...
23rd August, 2022
Community engagement • Participation and co-production • poverty • Public Services
Community Calling – People want more influence, and policy makers need better local intelligence
At a time when debates are polarised, politics feels stale, and the country is looking for answers to big challenges, it is clearer than ever that we need to...
4th August, 2022
Why the NHS urgently needs to turn to the community – and how to do it
Jessica Studdert on a new way of treating healthcare: one that puts communities – and therefore prevention – first.
12th July, 2022
Community engagement • Community Paradigm • Community Power • Health and social care
What is Community Power? FAQs, answered
Community power is growing as idea and a movement. But what does it mean in practice? What are its implications for policy? And what's next for this new paradigm?...
28th June, 2022
Identity issues: How two councils rewrote their narratives
How does a council rebrand its place, building a story and narrative that helps it to thrive? We explore how it was done in York and Hackney.
19th May, 2022
Council Voices • Innovation • Local government • Narrative building
How We Did It: Transferring assets to communities
In our latest How We Did It event, we spoke to Zoe Sharratt of Gateshead Council. They've passed around 45 buildings and spaces to communities.
18th May, 2022
5 challenges of evaluating place-based change
How can we measure long-term change in an area? Lily O’Flynn shares tools and advice for evaluating place-based change.
By Lily O’Flynn, Senior Project Manager for Place Based Evaluations, Renaisi
16th May, 2022
Monitoring and Evaluation • Place building • Public Services • Strategy and leadership
New polling: Public back community-powered solutions to national crises
Our new polling finds widespread public support for the idea of community power - including to tackle the cost of living crisis.
9th May, 2022
“I’d like them for all my patients”: The community members transforming a GP practice
Meet the UK's first Community Heath Workers, local people attached to a GP's surgery who check-in on the health of the neighbours. And who are already showing a different...
25th April, 2022
The Shared Prosperity Fund: Where’s the imagination? Where’s the control?
The new Shared Properity Fund promised a lot - slashing bureaucracy, giving local control, creating wealth. So why does it so closely replicate dumped EU funding? Joe Sarling finds...
14th April, 2022
Central government • Finance • Levelling Up • Local government finance
Top quotes from Stronger Things
A round-up of some of the most notable take-aways from New Local’s festival of community power.
13th April, 2022
Community Voices • Events • Politics • Strategy and leadership • Stronger Things
“There’s not enough community power within ICSs” Donna Hall on NHS reforms
The NHS is embarking on the biggest reforms of a generation - creating an integrated system that should usher in joined-up care and improved outcomes for patients. As new...
By Donna Hall, New Local & Bolton NHS Trust
12th April, 2022