We sat down with Nipa Shah, programme director of Brent Health Matters, to find out how this emergency response initiative, which began in 2020 at the start of the pandemic, […]

3rd December, 2025


New Local, has appointed Anna Randle as Interim Chief Executive, as Jessica Studdert is set to take up a new role as Special Adviser to the Prime Minister in the Number 10 Policy Unit, leading on local government and devolution.   Jessica […]

1st December, 2025


In a guest post for New Local, co-founder of Stories of Change, John Hitchin, shares his thoughts on the future of place-based work. Local government is all about work in […]

18th November, 2025


Liz Jarmin on Leeds City Council’s locality work in wards across the city of Leeds

14th November, 2025


Tell us about a typical working day at Westmorland and Furness Council It’s a varied role. The work areas I cover include Community Grants, Community Power, Social Enterprise, the Community […]

12th November, 2025


When marketing expert Zoe Ashford and charity leader Tim Simmans approached Adur & Worthing Councils with a new idea for unlocking the potential of grassroots community projects, their timing was […]

11th November, 2025


Lora Botev, Regional Manager at Go Vocal, talks to us about their work as a digital participation platform, working with local authorities and different organisations.

29th October, 2025


A strong sense of place is core to the mission and purpose of local government. Our role is to act as anchors, stewards, and conveners of the local system, supporting elected […]

16th September, 2025


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 […]

19th August, 2025


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


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 […]

21st July, 2025


‘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 […]

18th July, 2025


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 […]

9th July, 2025


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

8th July, 2025


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

2nd July, 2025


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 […]

26th June, 2025


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


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


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

12th June, 2025


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

29th May, 2025


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

15th May, 2025


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


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


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 […]

8th May, 2025


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


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

22nd April, 2025


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


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


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 […]

19th March, 2025


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


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


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 […]

5th February, 2025


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


New Local response to the English Devolution White Paper

16th December, 2024


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


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 […]

4th December, 2024


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


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

19th November, 2024


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


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


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


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

23rd October, 2024


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


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

14th October, 2024


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

20th September, 2024


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


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


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

5th September, 2024


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


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