Category: Publications
NLGN’s Leadership Index is a quarterly survey sent to all chief executives, leaders and council mayors in the UK. It provides insight into the level of confidence on key issues affecting local government. One year on from the implementation...
3rd April, 2019
NLGN’s Leadership Index is a quarterly survey which provides insights into the level of confidence on key issues affecting local government. It is sent to all chief executives, leaders and council mayors in the UK. Key findings from the...
29th January, 2019
The role of the private sector in the delivery of public services has been under intense scrutiny of late. However, the manner in which this debate is framed as ‘outsourcing versus in-house’ is out of kilter with the practical...
17th October, 2018
With financial resources likely to be under pressure for the foreseeable future, councils will increasingly need to become a supporter and enabler of communities ready to solve their own problems. Communities themselves may also need to change their expectations...
20th September, 2018
NLGN’s Leadership Index provides insights into the level of confidence on key issues affecting local government, based on the perception of council leaders, mayors and chief executives. The latest results reveal councils’ diminishing confidence in their power and resources...
8th August, 2018
Factors as varied as employment, transport, housing, and green space all affect people’s health. And over the last four years, councils have undertaken a variety of innovative work with local partners to improve public health outcomes. But challenges around...
5th June, 2018
Health and social care • Housing • Planning • Strategy and leadership
NLGN has been commissioned by the Key Cities Group to undertake research into how mid-sized cities can contribute to resolving the big national challenges that the UK currently faces. The first report, ‘Key Cities: Ready to Meet the UK’s...
5th June, 2018
Devolution • Devolution and reorganisation • Strategy and leadership
Increasingly councils are recognising that it is organisational culture not structure that drives impact. But what is the culture of local government? Why is changing it important? And how can such an intangible thing be transformed? In this essay...
18th April, 2018
Community Power • Culture • Devolution and reorganisation • Governance • Strategy and leadership • Think Piece
Our Leadership Index reveals council Chief Executives and Leaders hold low confidence that they have adequate resources and powers to deliver statutory services. NLGN’s Leadership Index provides insights into the level of confidence on key issues affecting local government,...
28th March, 2018
Our new Leadership Index reveals the pessimism for the impact of Brexit on local economies Our survey of all council Leaders and Chief Executives, published in the Guardian on 3 March, found exceptionally strong pessimism about the impact of...
5th March, 2018
This report explores the dividing lines that drove 2016’s decision to Leave. This report reveals the Brexit vote was a visible expression of the diverse economic trajectories, experiences and identities in England. This report, carried out by the University...
23rd January, 2018
Brexit • Housing • Inclusive Growth • Levelling Up • Policy • Strategy and leadership
In September 2017, the Government announced an additional £2bn investment in affordable housing, and stated it will encourage councils and housing associations to build homes for social rent in parts of the country where the need is greatest. Other...
11th December, 2017
Exploring how councils are approaching inclusive growth in practice.
29th November, 2017
Community Power • Inclusive Growth • Innovation In-depth • Members • Place building
Government must acknowledge health as an economic asset that boosts workforce productivity Over 85% of senior public health officers surveyed1 found that economic development departments are not as engaged as they could be £65m should be invested in Health...
28th November, 2017
Health and social care • Policy • Public Health • Research Reports • Wellbeing
Civil society is composed of highly varied but distinct elements, which work together towards a common outcome: improving people’s lives. For this reason, a healthy civil society has always been critical to resilient communities. However, as cuts to local...
10th July, 2017
At a time of intense financial pressures and when central government’s mind is on other things, many are asking themselves where local government goes next. In a think-piece launching NLGN’s new vision, Adam Lent and Jessica Studdert call for...
1st July, 2017
The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 requires commissioners in public authorities to have regard to economic, social and environmental well-being when buying public services. Public bodies are now encouraged to make social value a consideration and look for...
8th May, 2017
Commissioning and Procurement • Events • Strategy and leadership
Kindly supported by: Councils should focus their energies on understanding how the motivations of the public can be harnessed to help councils to be more productive, and then use this information to rapidly experiment and pilot new ideas, a...
29th March, 2017
To help councils build the hundreds of thousands of new homes that are needed, NLGN has published a practical guide, Building Homes, Growing Communities, to help ensure that the houses built lead to high quality communities that prioritise design,...
23rd March, 2017
Housing • Inclusive Growth • Planning • Strategy and leadership
Technology is always evolving. However over the last decade our ability to harness the data it can generate and the connections it can bring has undergone a step-change. Using the capabilities of smart technology, data analytics, and the networks...
17th March, 2017
At a time when councils are facing unprecedented financial pressures, the development of new robotics technology has the potential to help, according to participants in a roundtable debate convened by the NLGN and business process outsourcing firm Arvato. The...
28th February, 2017
Local government needs to engage its current and future workforce to make sure they are ready to take on the challenges of tomorrow’s council. This report uses original research and examples from around the world to explore and outline...
8th December, 2016
As our economy becomes increasingly globalised, our public policy response needs to become more localised. To ensure places are not buffeted by outside forces and are able to create relevant solutions, strong place-leadership is needed to forge adaptation and...
15th November, 2016
Events • Leadership • Research Reports • Strategy and leadership
DOWNLOAD NLGN RECOMMENDATIONS AND ACTIONS NLGN were commissioned by Power to Change in March 2016, to provide the most comprehensive possible mapping of asset transfers from local authorities to communities in recent years. This report found steady progress in...
2nd November, 2016
Commissioning and Procurement • Community Power • Economy and business
Kindly supported by: Local government should have more powers to help tackle persistent unemployment: 98% of councils think that employment and skills provision should be locally commissioned. 80% of responding councils are already taking steps to improve employment and...
20th October, 2016
Devolution • Employment • Research Reports • Skills • Welfare
Local government is revenue poor, but capital rich. While revenue budgets have fallen considerably over the past five years, capital spending has actually risen in cash terms. In 2014/15, local authorities in England and Wales spent more than £20bn...
17th September, 2016
Many cities offer people tangible opportunities for discovering economic security for themselves and their families. And some of the world’s largest cities offer the greatest opportunities
if they are to produce the correct blend of economic advantage, diversity and inclusion....
14th September, 2016
While councils are revenue-poor, they are relatively capital rich, investing more than £20bn a year in projects ranging from housing to petrol stations and shopping centres. Despite austerity, councils were actually spending more on capital investment in 2014/15 than...
11th September, 2016
Central Government need to be much clearer about what they want from devolution and much more willing to create the conditions to achieve it. This is the key finding from a new research report from NLGN supported by PwC....
13th July, 2016
Devolution • Devolution and reorganisation • Strategy and leadership
Cities across the UK must be given control over a third of corporation tax to help them fix the country’s underperformance on productivity, a new report by think tank NLGN argues today. It is well-established that Britain suffers from...
6th July, 2016
In the spring of 2016, NLGN and Capsticks LLP hosted a roundtable discussion on ways in which councils and housing associations can collaborate to build more homes. This paper is the outcome of this discussion and reflects the debate...
2nd June, 2016
In spring of 2016, NLGN and Veredus held two discussion events on the theme of collaborative leadership.
The participants were council chief executives: the first event representing some northern local authorities and the second, London boroughs. This paper...
10th May, 2016
In early 2016 NLGN partnership with Weightmans, held a roundtable in Leeds to discuss the status and progress of
devolution deals. Leaders and Chief Executives were brought together from combined authorities and a number of
metropolitan and district councils.
6th May, 2016
This report takes a “whole systems” approach to ensure services are working in an integrated way wrapped around people. Getting this right will require greater collaboration between commissioners and providers, and between all shapes and sizes of VCS organisations...
28th April, 2016
Charities • Commissioning and Procurement • Research Reports
In partnership with: “Find a way to keep faith with arts and culture” Arts Council Chair urges local authorities as arts and culture funding falls Sir Peter Bazalgette urged local authorities to work with the Arts Council to back...
13th April, 2016
This final report moves the debate into practical territory by focussing on actions rather than structures, and the wider resources of places rather than the organisational boundaries of institutions.
17th March, 2016
Community Power • Devolution • Health and social care • Local government finance • Place building • Public Health • Wellbeing
The paper sets out the potential of reimagining health as place-based, and lays out the challenge for the Place-Based Health Commission, chaired by Lord Victor Adebowale.
16th December, 2015
Supported by: In collaboration with Action for Children, NLGN hosted three roundtable discussions on the role of local government in supporting parents. The first two discussions were held with councillors at the Labour and Conservative party conferences, and the...
10th December, 2015
New research from two leading local government think tanks has found that whilst 93% of local councils are reporting cuts to street scene and public realm budgets there is still and urgent need for councils to adopt different approaches...
4th September, 2015
The fire and rescue service (FRS) has a critical choice to make about its future. Severe budget cuts in the Revenue Support Grant and limitations on council tax income are eating into the service’s capacity, leaving an estimated total...
30th July, 2015
NLGN hosted a roundtable in partnership with Prospects in March 2015 to discuss changing delivery models for children’s and youth services. This paper outlines the key themes from this discussion and how this fits in the wider context of...
14th July, 2015
NLGN held a roundtable discussion with contribution from then Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Chris Leslie MP to discuss the implications of the UKMBA and consider the future of financing local government. This paper details the key...
9th June, 2015
In March 2015, NLGN ran a roundtable in partnership with WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff in Birmingham to discuss the low carbon economy and its role in promoting sustainable growth. This paper outlines the key themes coming out of these...
2nd June, 2015
In January 2015, NLGN held a discussion event in partnership with Zurich Municipal to look at the future of local political leadership. With the role of councils rapidly changing and developing, how will the Leaders and Chief Executives of...
29th April, 2015
Events • Leadership • Politics
data is not just a financial asset, but equally that it is the key that unlocks council’s ability to fully integrate and transform the services they offer local people to truly develop the full potential of their places.
23rd April, 2015
NLGN hosted two roundtable discussions in December 2014 and January 2015 centred on the Conservative and Labour parties’ approaches to health and social care in the run-up to the General Election in May 2015. This paper details the outcomes...
6th April, 2015
Local authorities, housing associations and the health sector are natural partners. There is significant overlap between the people they work with and the challenges they face. This report examines good practice demonstrating the benefits of collaboration, analyses some of...
24th March, 2015
In November 2014, NLGN held a roundtable discussion in partnership with Tata Consultancy Services to consider the role of local authorities in investing and developing local skills. The discussion brought together senior executives from the economic development sector and...
9th February, 2015
It is now eighteen months on from the transfer of public health from the NHS to local authorities, and one year on from the publication of the NLGN report Healthy Dialogues: Embedding Health in Local Government. To mark this,...
27th January, 2015
In November 2014, NLGN hosted a roundtable discussion in partnership with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and MindEd to consider how local government can prioritise early intervention in child and adolescent mental health. This involved...
22nd January, 2015