Category: Articles

September is our contact centre’s busiest time of year without a doubt. Surrey County Council manages the admission of nearly 160,000 pupils to more than 350 state-funded schools. And as families get ready for that ‘back to school’ moment,...

19th August, 2025

Call Centre • Future Councils • Strategy and leadership • Surrey County Council

It's been three months since we launched Waves. This is the first in a series of blogs where we’ll share what we’ve discovered, how our thinking has evolved and what we’re finding challenging.

6th August, 2025

AI • Community Power • Digital Democracy • Future Councils • Waves

Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) have never truly been designed; they’ve evolved. Greater Manchester — the starter culture for all MCAs — looked like a reasonably recognisable set of shared functional teams until the Mayoralty was ‘craned on’ in return...

21st July, 2025

Community Power • English Devo Bill • Future Councils • Mayoral Combined Authorities • Steve Skelton • Strategic authorities

‘If you were going to design English local government from scratch, you wouldn’t have come up with this.’ Versions of this observation will be familiar to many in and around the sector relating to the split between district and...

18th July, 2025

Community Power • English Devo Bill • LGR • Local Councils • Place-Based Public Service Reform

It’s been a year since Labour came into power, bringing with them a commitment to a different way of ‘doing’ government centred around five missions for national renewal. One year on, and the policy community is reflecting on what...

9th July, 2025

Future Councils • ICC • Mission-Led Governing • Place-Based Public Service Reform • Strategic authorities • Strategy and leadership

This Innovation Explored focuses on our first Waves Learning Network session on digital democracy.

8th July, 2025

AI • Digital Democracy • Innovation • Waves

Nicol McConnell on Sunderland City Council’s work towards making Sunderland a fully digitally inclusive city.

2nd July, 2025

Community engagement • Community Voices • Digital • Sunderland City Council

Last month, New Local announced its partnership with Demos on Waves – the largest trial of digital democracy in Britain to date. The Waves project aims to create a digital democratic process that can be used by local government....

26th June, 2025

Community Power • Demos • Digital Democracy • Future Councils • Waves

Where People Meet: How to Celebrate, Sustain and Reimagine Community Centres’ was commissioned by the Rayne Trust, to explore the distinct and valuable part that community centres play in people’s lives across the UK.

24th June, 2025

Birmingham • Bradford • Community centres • Community Power • Rayne Trust • Stroud

Emma Bull, Local Partnerships and Emily Bolton, Cambridgeshire County Council give insight into best practices for embedding climate resilience across council operations

23rd June, 2025

Cambridgeshire County Council • Climate change • Local Partnerships • Net Zero • Strategy and leadership

What do you get when you combine collective expertise, healthy debate, and optimism? You get Stronger Things 2025, of course!

12th June, 2025

Community Power • Georgia Gould MP • Local government • Stronger Things

John Denham and Jessica Studdert set out five reasons why now is the time for Total Place 2.0.

29th May, 2025

Community Power • Local government • Spending Review • Total Place

Laura Billings tells us how TPXimpact developed community power standards with Manchester City Council.

15th May, 2025

Community Power • Manchester City Council • Strategy and leadership • TPXimpact

Achieving change within a council can sometimes feel like being a mountaineer, writes Mike Greene, Chief Executive of Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council.

13th May, 2025

Community Power • Mike Greene • mission-based • Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council

Grace Duffy, Director of Policy, Influencing and Engagement at Bridges Outcomes Partnership, tells us about their work with local authorities and partnerships they have developed to build better outcomes for residents.

13th May, 2025

Community Power • Local government • Partnerships • Public Services

The biggest redesign of public services in a generation lies ahead. As councils try to work out what new model could adequately respond to the complex demands on them, community-powered prevention offers a chance to deliver an approach that...

8th May, 2025

Community Power • Inner Circle Consulting • Stronger Things

Community centres have long stood as pillars of local life, but we are losing these spaces at pace and at scale. Summer Simpson explores why this matters.

7th May, 2025

Community assets • Community engagement • Community Power • Health and social care

Alice Black, Sophie Taylor and Sue Sheehan explain how the London Borough of Camden is embracing neighbourhood ways of working.

22nd April, 2025

Community engagement • Community Power • Local government • Strategy and leadership

Jessica Studdert shares four fundamental shifts that are taking local government leadership into new territory and explains why the changing sector landscape demands a common understanding of leadership.

20th March, 2025

Devolution and reorganisation • Leadership • Local government • Strategy and leadership

Steve Grimshaw explains how Kent County Council brought more than 8,000 empty properties back into use over 20 years through its No Use Empty project.

19th March, 2025

Economy and business • Housing • Local government

In a career spanning councils, digital agencies and central government, TPXimpact’s Ben Unsworth has been at the forefront of reshaping local government. We speak to him about why councils are ripe for design thinking, why digital pros need a...

19th March, 2025

Design Thinking • Digital • Leadership • Local government • Strategy and leadership

Croydon Labour councillor Rowenna Davis explores why some town centres thrive while others decline - and what councils can do to turn the tide.

26th February, 2025

Economy and business • High Streets • Inclusive Economy • Local economies • Regeneration

Graham Beamish and Marie Pye explain how Suffolk and Norfolk County Councils have saved 1000 years’ worth of care days for children and young people.

17th February, 2025

Childrens' Services • Local government • Partnerships • Prevention • Public Services

Cllr Beverley Egan is a councillor for Thundersley in south-east Essex. In 2023, she was appointed to chair of Essex Council’s Caring Communities Commission, an ambitious two-year look at the future of health and social care, led by independent...

5th February, 2025

Community Power • Health and social care • Public Services

As the Government’s agenda for local government, devolution and public services takes shape, a ‘new local’ is emerging, built on the principles of power, prevention and place.

27th January, 2025

Community Power • Local government • Place-based budgets • Politics • Prevention • Public Services

New Local response to the English Devolution White Paper

16th December, 2024

Central government • Local government • Politics

The government needs an overarching strategy for public service reform that dispenses with traditional Whitehall ‘business as usual’ assumptions, writes Jessica Studdert.

13th December, 2024

Central government • Community Power • Local government • Public Services • Strategy and leadership

As the NHS grapples with significant challenges, a new approach to public consultation is giving citizens and healthcare staff the power to shape its future. In the largest-ever conversation about NHS reform, thousands of people are sharing ideas on...

4th December, 2024

Central government • Healthcare • Public Services • The NHS

Rob Thomas, Chief Executive of Vale of Glamorgan Council, tells us about the council’s deepening partnership approach, why there’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach to delivering vital local services, what community power means to the council, and why...

26th November, 2024

Community Power • Local government • Strategy and leadership

New Local has appointed local government and public service reform expert Jessica Studdert as its new Chief Executive

19th November, 2024

Leadership • Strategy and leadership

Caroline Wilson, Director of Inclusive Economy and Jobs at Islington Borough Council, explains how the council’s approach to community wealth building has emerged and deepened, how it’s helping to tackle inequalities, and how it touches the lives of people...

11th November, 2024

Community engagement • Community Power • Economy and business • Local government

The new Government has an opportunity to shift the institutions at SW1 to actively seek insight beyond its small postcode, says Jessica Studdert.

11th November, 2024

Central government • Community Power • Devolution and reorganisation • Local government • Policy • Public Services

In North Birkenhead a unique programme is joining up services and putting community priorities at the heart of decision making, creating impact that could be a model for national policy change.

7th November, 2024

Community Power • Local government • Public Services • Social Care • Total Place

Jessica Studdert identifies three shifts local government needs from the first fiscal event of the new Parliament.

23rd October, 2024

Budgeting • Central government • Local government • Politics • Public Services

We put Hal Khanom in our ‘How We Did It’ hot seat to hear how the London Borough of Barnet has developed its equalities strategy, A Fairer Barnet.

17th October, 2024

Community engagement • Community Power • Equality • Local government • Strategy and leadership

Devolution should move beyond technocratic functionality and embed meaningful participation and dialogue in decision-making, says Jessica Studdert.

14th October, 2024

Devolution • Local government • Public Services • Strategy and leadership

The traditional siloed model of public services is ineffective for complex societal problems. But three public spending shifts can change this.

20th September, 2024

Central government • Local government finance • Person-centred funding • Policy

Matthew China, Policy, Insight and Communications Manager at Wealden District Council tells us about Wealden’s ambition to become a community-powered council, how it’s building on strong foundations to take on the challenges of the future, and some of the...

10th September, 2024

Community Power • Local government • Place building • Strategy and leadership

With the Autumn Budget in sight, Former Secretary of State John Denham and New Local’s Jessica Studdert make the case for Total Place 2.0.

9th September, 2024

Devolution and reorganisation • Local government finance • Place-based budgets • Political reform • Public Services • Total Place

Enfield Council’s Grace Murray shares ten pointers for community-powered leadership.

5th September, 2024

Community Power • Leadership • Public Services • Strategy and leadership

By listening to and valuing the insights of communities, the public sector can build better services, improve outcomes and use limited resources more wisely. But what are the essential ingredients for effective collaboration? And how can you overcome barriers...

14th August, 2024

Collaboration • Community engagement • Community Power • Local government • Public Services • Wellbeing

After a bold start, the Government has an opportunity to pursue a test and learn approach to place-based service reform, says Jessica Studdert.

12th August, 2024

Local government • Politics • Public Services

We at New Local condemn the racist and Islamophobic violence that black, Asian and migrant communities have been subjected to over recent days.

8th August, 2024

Public Services

Councils are facing reduced funding, rising demand and increasing costs. New Local and IPPO's research project explores how local authorities are responding and what we can learn.

31st July, 2024

Local government • Local government finance • Public Services

New Local Chair Katie Kelly talks to Shaheen Warren from our practice team ahead of our brand-new Radical Leaders event in September. Expect topics from leadership icons to Damascene moments and finding courage through collaboration.

29th July, 2024

Community Power • Leadership • Local government • Public Services • Strategy and leadership

Kath O'Dwyer has spent the last 40 years making her mark in public service, most lately as the chief executive of St Helens Council. Picking questions at random, she talks life outside work, inspirational quotes, and why she's a...

22nd July, 2024

Community engagement • Leadership • Leadership Lucky Draw • Local government • Northern England • Strategy and leadership

Sometimes even the most well-meaning idea can be turned into a source of polarisation and anger. How can deliberative and consensus-building approaches be used to take the heat out of public discourse? Five changemakers share their insights.

22nd July, 2024

Community Cohesion • Community engagement • Community Power • Stronger Things 2024

New MPs have arrived for their first day on the job, the Cabinet is in post, and the wheels of government are turning once more. Catriona Maclay puts forward nine lessons that can be learnt from local government.

11th July, 2024

Central government • Community Power • Local government • Politics • Public Services • Strategy and leadership

Lydia Hutchings and Beth Kilheeney explain how the Greater Manchester Better Outcomes Partnership works with young people to prevent homelessness and how the project is being evaluated.

11th July, 2024

Community Power • Homelessness • Measurement and Evaluation • Public Services • Young people

For many councils, area forums are at the heart of democratic engagement. But despite nobel intentions, some have drifted away from their purpose. How do we reimagine them?

1st July, 2024

Area Forums • Community engagement • Devolution and reorganisation • Practice work • Strategy and leadership