Category: Articles
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 have […]
24th January, 2020
If any main theme has emerged in the Labour Party’s leadership contest so far, it is community empowerment. Almost all the candidates have at least mentioned the importance of decentralisation […]
24th January, 2020
Adam Lent argues that our intensifying climate crisis requires a political, economic and cultural revolution rooted in the empowerment of communities. @adamjlent We enter this new decade in the grip […]
20th January, 2020
Climate change • Community Power • Environment • Public Services
The North-South divide is the trope most commonly used by policy-makers to highlight the problems of regional inequality in England, but it is by no means the country’s only socio-economic […]
15th January, 2020
So, the new decade begins with Australia literally on fire. Unsurprisingly, many of us are feeling the moral imperative for climate action more strongly than ever, and yet a glance […]
6th January, 2020
The PM may have given minimum wage earners a cash boost but Adam Lent argues only bringing the low paid into the heart of power will make a long-term difference. […]
31st December, 2019
Democracy • Economy and business • Employment • Public Services
Dining dividing lines continue to eat up councils as they fail to agree on what to have for Christmas lunch. We asked council leaders, chief executives and Mayors what they’d […]
24th December, 2019
In theory, a Conservative government with a very strong mandate should prove a tasty prospect for the local government sector. The party’s manifesto commits the government to a devolution white […]
13th December, 2019
Community Power • Conservatives • Democracy • Public Services
Many of us in the local government sector are all too well acquainted with you the negative side of the budgeting process. As demand seems to consistently rise, money gets scarcer and less certain.
4th December, 2019
Budgeting • Commissioning and Procurement • Strategy and leadership
Local authorities experience considerable difficulties as they budget to keep vital services going whilst facing uncertainty about their future finances, and this is exacerbated when they are unsure when a longer-term settlement can be achieved.
4th December, 2019
Budgeting • Commissioning and Procurement • Public Services • Strategy and leadership
With this Community Paradigm front and centre in our minds, here’s our take on the highlights from each party’s manifesto and what these say about their vision for local government and communities.
27th November, 2019
In response to the debate about a Community Power Act, Adam Lent argues that culture change is vital but alone it is not enough to transform a highly centralised, resistant system.
26th November, 2019
The number of people spending the night on the streets is increasing all over the world, as nations struggle with their own housing crises or have difficulties funding the multi-agency support services needed for individuals to overcome the complex...
25th November, 2019
The environment has been skyrocketing up councils’ agendas in recent years, but local government still faces significant challenges in how to respond.
25th November, 2019
Given the increasingly stretched resources in councils, prototyping provides a sensible and low-cost approach to test new ideas and obtain buy-in along the way.
22nd November, 2019
In this briefing, we’re exploring the benefits and opportunities that arise when we create the time and space to bring prototyping practices into our work.
22nd November, 2019
NLGN is working to empower communities in this bid to take back control with our overarching Community Paradigm agenda, and our latest project is an investigation into the research and insights of Elinor Ostrom.
15th November, 2019
Inclusive growth is a buzzword in local government these days, but how can it be delivered in practice?
12th November, 2019
Economy and business • Inclusive Growth • Strategy and leadership
Donna Hall CBE discusses leadership, the Wigan Deal, and what drew her towards NLGN and its vision of a world where communities hold the power.
11th November, 2019
Community Power • New Local Board • Strategy and leadership • Video
NLGN's Director makes the case for a new law that would shift power from public institutions and into the hands of citizens.
11th November, 2019
This October, I had the pleasure of participating in an NLGN Innovation Exchange for the first time.
6th November, 2019
This month’s NLGN Leadership Index report reveals that councils are even less hopeful about the impact of Brexit on their local economy than they were two years ago.
31st October, 2019
Participative approaches are popular - but they often fail to be truly inclusive Alex Fox OBE, who leads the revolutionary Shared Lives community carer scheme, shares his two lessons for making sure people with disabilities and other excluded groups...
30th October, 2019
Democracy • Participation and co-production • Political Systems
Uncertainty is bad for the economy. Yet the events of recent days and weeks have revealed even greater lack of clarity for local government when it comes to Britain’s departure […]
29th October, 2019
Brexit • Economy and business • Leadership Index • Public Services
So, Her Majesty told us yesterday that her counsellors will be launching another round of devolution. It won’t happen of course unless Boris Johnson marches back into Downing Street with […]
16th October, 2019
Devolution • Devolution and reorganisation • Political Systems
No one can doubt the sincerity of Dame Sally Davies’s parting shot as Chief Medical Officer. Her report on child obesity crackles with frustration and fear at the horrendous cost […]
10th October, 2019
Health and social care • Public Health • Public Sector Voices • Public Services
There is no need for another blog to articulate the complete chaos that the British politics system finds itself in at the present time. As of today, the government teeters […]
26th September, 2019
The number of children in care has never been so high, rising by 4% over the last year alone and by 2025, the funding gap for children’s services is expected […]
11th September, 2019
The number of looked after children has reached a thirty-year high, with spending in this area accounting for over half of spending on children’s services in 2018-19. Despite the injection […]
9th September, 2019
Last week’s Spending Review announcement provided something of a proverbial crutch for children’s services, but offered few reassurances for the medium to long-term sustainability of what many see as the […]
9th September, 2019
Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings have got MPs exactly where they want them: defending Parliament. They may cast this right now as a battle between an executive that wants to […]
28th August, 2019
Levels of violent youth crime on our streets have never been so high. Over the last four years, the number of these offences has increased by 34%. This is also […]
21st August, 2019
With violent youth crime firmly in the public eye, our latest NLGN Leadership Index focusses on how the issue is affecting local government and how the sector is responding to […]
20th August, 2019
Support the community commissioning agenda and transform the way local authorities interact with communities For almost a decade, local authorities have struggled to manage increasing demand for public services whilst […]
13th August, 2019
In May’s local elections, 10 areas took part in a trial requiring people to show some form of identification before casting their vote. The downside of this, we now know, […]
6th August, 2019
A week ago, the UK reached its hottest recorded temperature. Over the weekend half a month’s rain fell in one hour. On Tuesday, major flooding hit Yorkshire. And yesterday, the […]
1st August, 2019
Climate change • Democracy • Environment • Participation and co-production
Since publishing The Community Paradigm in February, a question I get asked more than any other is what community-led services look like in practice. Clearly, there is a hunger out […]
10th July, 2019
A new vision for public services in which communities are placed at the heart of delivery was set out in NLGN’s report The Community Paradigm, published in February this year. […]
9th July, 2019
What is the point of public service inspectorates like Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission? The standard line is that they are there to make sure public sector bodies offer […]
9th July, 2019
Community Power • Devolution • Devolution and reorganisation
In February of this year NLGN set out a compelling new vision for public services in The Community Paradigm The report argued that for a preventative approach to public service […]
8th July, 2019
Commissioning and Procurement • Community Power • Public Services
Article originally published in HSG.co.uk The Chernobyl TV series is a powerful reminder of what happens when competition, persecution and dread rule. Donna Hall celebrates an organisation with a more […]
5th July, 2019
Inclusive growth has gained a firm foothold within the policy lexicon over recent years. Yet, despite much valuable discussion on what it is and why it is important, there remains […]
24th June, 2019
The challenges of working with partners, complex structures, imperfect systems etc are everywhere in local government. In this blog we talk about an example we’ve been working on in health […]
10th June, 2019
Two weeks ago, after months of hard work, we opened the doors to a brand-new cultural hub in the centre of Wigan. The hub is situated in one of our […]
30th May, 2019
Happy local election day! In the unique way of our quirky local democratic traditions, a complicated collection of nearly all English metropolitan boroughs, most district councils and some unitaries are […]
2nd May, 2019
The plight of children’s services is a well-documented one, and it is in some ways a relief to see that organisations such as the Local Government Association are now listing […]
1st May, 2019
“All adults should always do what is best for you.” – Article 3 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, child-friendly version (1989) On the thirtieth anniversary […]
28th April, 2019
“All adults should always do what is best for you.” – Article 3 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, child-friendly version (1989) On the thirtieth anniversary […]
26th April, 2019
There are many good criticisms of the Taxpayers Alliance (TPA) but they are often not related to the fundamental raison d’etre of the organisation. It is possible, for example, to […]
17th April, 2019
The UK is facing a homelessness crisis; 1 in 200 people in Britain don’t have a place to call home. This shocking statistic is lived out through the stark rise […]
3rd April, 2019