Category: Articles
One of the quieter Brexit-related announcements made by the Government this week concerned a ‘reshuffle’ of its Cabinet Committees. The European Union Exit and Trade (Domestic Preparedness, Legislation and Devolution) […]
11th January, 2019
When I popped to my local pub on New Year’s Eve, little did I know I would end up starting 2019 defining and defending local government to a group of […]
9th January, 2019
Local government finance • Public Services • Strategy and leadership
This article first appeared on the Local Government Chronicle website on 7th January 2019. It is generally accepted that doctors should avoid diagnosing their own illnesses and prescribing their own […]
8th January, 2019
The NHS 10-year plan has been heralded by the Prime Minister as a “historic step to secure its future”. While elements of the plan are welcome – including greater investment […]
8th January, 2019
This article first appeared on Room 151. As 2018 draws to a close, it has ended in much the same way as it started for partnerships between the public and […]
18th December, 2018
This month, three councils in the North East came together to create a Combined Authority and start the next phase of our devolution journey. Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland are, […]
7th December, 2018
Devolution • Devolution and reorganisation • Political Systems
The announcement in the recent budget that the Government will be lifting the borrowing cap on Local Authorities’ Housing Revenue Accounts has been much welcomed and is long overdue. The […]
26th November, 2018
Billed as a juicy political debate pitting the Labour Party’s preference for in-housing against the Conservative Party’s continued commitment to the role of the private sector on outsourcing, the discussions […]
22nd November, 2018
Most people living in poverty in the UK today have a job. Work was meant to be the surest way out of poverty, but not any more. Without a statutory […]
9th November, 2018
Blink and you might have missed it. Amid the fireworks of last week’s Budget, we had some positive devolution news. On Friday 2nd November, the North of Tyne devolution deal […]
7th November, 2018
Quality + culture => staff retention Source: Skills for Care: “The state of the adult social care sector and workforce in England” – September 2018; (Data: NMDS-SC unweighted data and […]
6th November, 2018
The Chancellor was clearly feeling the hand of history on his shoulder. A new chapter and a turning point were declared as Phillip Hammond informed the House that austerity was […]
30th October, 2018
The latest NLGN Leadership Index paints a stark picture of local government’s capacity to weather the current challenges facing the sector and those on the horizon. Our regular survey of […]
25th October, 2018
NLGN’s Leadership Index provides insights into the level of confidence on key issues affecting local government, based on the perception of chief executives, leaders and council mayors. NLGN Leadership Index […]
24th October, 2018
In 2008, Alistair Darling’s Autumn Statement as Chancellor of the Exchequer contained two bombshells. The first being that he was spending £200bn to keep the economy afloat following the financial […]
24th October, 2018
As policymakers scratch their heads over how to tackle the UK’s productivity challenge, is a focus on regional disparities too blunt an approach? As this blog argues, an understanding of […]
23rd October, 2018
Last week the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released their report into the effects of global warming and confirmed what many have suspected for some time – that global […]
16th October, 2018
On 18 July 2018, NLGN partnered with FutureGov to host our latest Innovation Exchange at their offices in London. All of our Innovation Exchanges produce a detailed Insights Report available […]
12th October, 2018
The role of the private sector in the delivery of public services has been under intense scrutiny of late. It has been a year overshadowed by high-profile failings, perhaps most […]
9th October, 2018
It’s become a familiar scene. Minister makes “major” announcement of new funding for social care in the realm of many millions. Sector responds that what is needed is in the […]
2nd October, 2018
It has become so rare to hear national politicians talk about returning power over schools to councils that Angela Rayner’s forthright speech to the Labour conference came as something of […]
26th September, 2018
As its annual conference closes, and a flurry of new policy announcements add to last year’s manifesto, Labour’s agenda continues to take shape. While Brexit negotiations still dominate these unpredictable […]
26th September, 2018
What would a No Deal Brexit mean for the UK? With only six months remaining until the UK leaves the EU on 29 March 2019, this is the burning question […]
20th September, 2018
At the Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales we are often challenging local authorities around commissioning and contracting and how too often it excludes or marginalises small and local […]
14th September, 2018
The relationship between councils and communities is shifting. The traditional role of the council as primarily a “service deliver” has diminishing impact in a context of reduced budgets, rising demand […]
13th September, 2018
At the heart of any social mobility agenda lies the notion that there is a route out of poverty. For many, it is our education system that equips those from […]
17th August, 2018
The demand pressures on children’s services have been rising up the policy agenda. There have been repeated calls to the government to allocate more resources to supporting children’s services. The […]
16th August, 2018
Local government finance has been making headlines recently, for all the wrong reasons. As news broke that Northamptonshire County Council is now considering a “radical plan” to cut back services […]
8th August, 2018
The delivery of new housing in the current economic and political climate is more challenging than ever. The issue of housing supply, particularly the demand for more affordable housing, continues […]
6th August, 2018
As Brexit rows continues to dominate the news, feminism may not be high on the agenda of the current Prime Minister, Theresa May. There are many competing interests the PM […]
27th July, 2018
The surge in violent crime over the last year has left policy makers scrabbling to respond in a meaningful way. The plethora of initiatives announced over the last year – […]
20th July, 2018
It can be challenging to be a young person today. The issues causing stress amongst our teenagers range from community to community. We’ve learned that young people involved in our […]
19th July, 2018
Last week saw another report released in the wake of Carillion’s collapse. “After Carillion: Public sector outsourcing and contracting”, a new report from the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, […]
17th July, 2018
Woefully low levels of productivity in the UK have been observed for a number of years now. Data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) shows that UK GDP output […]
16th July, 2018
Whether facilitating, researching or tweeting, the question of how to establish the changemaking councils and communities of tomorrow is never far from my thoughts. The more time I spend on […]
9th July, 2018
The announcement that made headlines in an otherwise low-key speech from MHCLG Secretary of State James Brokenshire at this year’s LGA Conference concerned the establishment of a board to encourage […]
5th July, 2018
This article first appeared on The Local Government Chronicle website on 2nd July 2018 Let’s face it, the bar is not exactly high. As long as James Brokenshire manages to […]
3rd July, 2018
As the local government clans gather in Birmingham this week, let me offer a view counter to the apparent increasing trend for local political leaders to work full-time in their […]
2nd July, 2018
11,000 young people leave care every year, including foster and residential placements, and start their transition to adulthood. For many, this is a difficult journey. Not only do young people […]
20th June, 2018
There is nothing new about English devolution being couched in economic terms, particularly as the UK Government has pinned the devolution agenda in England firmly to the spatial framework of […]
19th June, 2018
A quarter of millennials think it’s normal for older people to be unhappy or depressed, and two thirds don’t have a friendship with an age gap of 30 years or […]
18th June, 2018
This post first appeared in The Local Government Chronicle on 12th June 2018. Welcome to the Quadruple Whammy: the confluence of factors rearing into view that could push local government […]
13th June, 2018
Since the referendum to leave the European Union (EU), various universities, think tanks and thought leaders have published studies and views on the potential impact of Brexit on the UK […]
12th June, 2018
This week’s BBC/YouGov English Question poll again highlighted the volatility in English identity politics and the fallout from the EU Referendum, with coverage focusing on the sense of belonging and […]
8th June, 2018
Dave Sheridan, Divisional CEO of ENGIE UK, explains why trust is fundamental to being successful custodians of public services. The recent demise of Carillion, and the public debate thereafter, once […]
7th June, 2018
I am a veteran of all the many approaches to regeneration, and I can overcome insomnia naming them all. I was a fan of the Blair Government Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy […]
6th June, 2018
On 23rd March 2018, NLGN, supported by The Ramblers, convened a roundtable on public health, held in Salford and attended by partners from across Greater Manchester. This blog launches the […]
5th June, 2018
As the dust settles on the local elections, newly elected councillors will be getting to work tackling what is, by now, an old problem. How do local authorities continue to […]
4th June, 2018
This is a critical year for local government. The Spending Review, the social care green paper and decisions on funding the NHS are all individually important, but collectively they could […]
1st June, 2018
This article first appeared on the Local Government Chronicle website on 30th May 2018 You don’t need to trawl the archives of The New York Times to know that a […]
30th May, 2018