Produced in partnership with What Works Centre for Wellbeing, this report reviews the evidence related to community agency, control and power and their effects on community wellbeing.

22nd June, 2023


In recent years we’ve seen a continued and increasing link between health and economic outcomes, brought into sharp focus by COVID-19. Imran Hashmi and Laura Charlesworth examine what this means for the UK labour market and for levelling up.

14th March, 2023


Today’s announcement on Universal Credit is one more example of welfare policy set to serve the interests of the politically powerful rather than the unemployed and the economy.

27th January, 2022


Creating partnerships to maximise impact on jobs, and how to match skills to opportunities.

8th December, 2020


Even before the Covid pandemic, UK skills were falling behind other countries in terms of participation and spending. With huge employment and economic challenges on the horizon, Charlotte Morgan argues that local areas and their communities could transform skills...

26th November, 2020


With huge employment and economic challenges on the horizon, Charlotte Morgan argues that local partnershiops of councils, colleges and communities could transform post-16 education in England - if they are given the powers and resources to do so.

26th November, 2020


With millions at risk of losing their jobs, people with disabilities and health conditions in long-term unemployment should be supported locally, removing this responsibility from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

29th October, 2020


Over 2 million people are out of work due to health conditions and disabilities. But each year, only 4% move into employment. Introducing new research This Isn't Working, Tom Pollard argues that support for this group should lie with...

27th October, 2020


In this podcast, we discuss why the DWP report is ill-equipped to support people out of long-term unemployment. And we look at at the community approach that could replace it.

27th October, 2020


Over 2 million people are out of work due to health conditions and disabilities. But each year, only 4% move into employment. This Isn't Working, argues that support for this group should lie with local areas, and not the...

27th October, 2020


In this event, we propose a new, community-led employment support for people with disabilies and health conditions.

23rd October, 2020


How we can 'shock proof' our systems for a more prepared and better future? 

17th August, 2020


As we look to a post-pandemic future, more and more local authorities are getting behind the idea of a Universal Basic Income. The case is stronger than ever, argues Simon Duffy

7th August, 2020


Kicking off a new conversation about Resilient Britain, chief executive of Local Trust, Matt Leach, and director of NLGN, Adam Lent, set out their plan to bring together a network of people and organisations to design and deliver plans...

24th July, 2020


If there has been anything heartening to come out of misery of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been the growth of mutual aid groups, which we have seen spring up across the length and breadth of the country. But...

18th May, 2020


If you live in the UK today and have a disability, you are twice as likely to be unemployed than someone who is not disabled – a fact so well-known that it has been named the ‘disability employment gap’...

24th April, 2020


Offering a vision for a fundamentally different approach to supporting people into employment.

7th April, 2020


Adam Lent argues we need to start thinking now about a post-pandemic plan focused on building stronger communities and a resilient economy. As is often the case with a crisis, Britain is channeling the Second World War. Talk of...

20th March, 2020


Women do the vast majority of unpaid care, and are often at the heart of community work. But can community empowerment help create a more egalitarian approach to paid and unpaid caring work – and to society in general?...

9th March, 2020


Millions of people in communities across the country find it difficult, or even impossible, to work because of the impact of a disability or long-term health condition. These disabilities and health conditions are often part of a complex picture...

7th February, 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. My most terrifying duty as Head of Economics at...

31st December, 2019


This report highlights ideas and best practice successfully implemented by countries, regions and cities around the world in response to similar challenges faced by places in the UK.

3rd July, 2019


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 minimum wage which pays enough to live on, five...

9th November, 2018


Earlier this year, NLGN and ENGIE launched the Tomorrow’s Places report focusing on how councils can practically use technology-led infrastructure, data analytics, and networks for better outcomes. The research highlighted the potential for technology to help local government transform...

12th December, 2017


Claire Mansfield, head of research at the New Local Government Network (NLGN), Lucy Terry, senior researcher at the organisation, Barry Pirie, a former PPMA president, and current PPMA president Caroline Nugent, discuss the findings of the recent ‘Outside the...

14th August, 2017


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


NLGN, with the support of Zurich Municipal, set out to investigate the risks to the next generation that the economic downturn has generated. While the immediate impact of the downturn is apparent, the implications in the medium term are...

26th October, 2012


Local authorities should channel funding to areas of skills training that will most benefit long term employment and economic growth in their locality. The economic downturn has seen unemployment in the UK rise to 7.9%, with almost 2.5 million...

12th January, 2010