Tag: Public Services

Exploring how local authorities can integrate climate risk into their strategic planning and work through the significant impacts on future service delivery.

23rd June, 2025

Climate change • Partnerships • Public Services • Transformation

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

Community Power • Local government • Partnerships • Public Services

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

Childrens' Services • Local government • Partnerships • Prevention • Public Services

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 future of health and social care, led by independent...

5th February, 2025

Community Power • Health and social care • Public Services

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

Community Power • Local government • Place-based budgets • Politics • Prevention • Public Services

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

Central government • Community Power • Local government • Public Services • Strategy and leadership

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 NHS reform, thousands of people are sharing ideas on...

4th December, 2024

Central government • Healthcare • Public Services • The NHS

Many councils have committed to net zero, but embedding climate resilience into whole-organisation transformation remains a major challenge. This session will explore how local authorities can integrate climate risk into their strategic planning and work through the significant impacts...

11th November, 2024

Climate change • Public Services • Transformation

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

Central government • Community Power • Devolution and reorganisation • Local government • Policy • Public Services

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

Community Power • Local government • Public Services • Social Care • Total Place

Using outcomes-focused relational working to reduce demand on statutory services can be difficult, but it has the potential to help local authorities effectively deliver preventative interventions.

5th November, 2024

Childrens' Services • Health and social care • Prevention • Public Services

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

23rd October, 2024

Budgeting • Central government • Local government • Politics • Public Services

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

14th October, 2024

Devolution • Local government • Public Services • Strategy and leadership

Creating a strategy that is shaped by frontline services as well as those accessing them is vital for local authorities.

17th September, 2024

Community engagement • Equality • Public Services

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

Devolution and reorganisation • Local government finance • Place-based budgets • Political reform • Public Services • Total Place

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

5th September, 2024

Community Power • Leadership • Public Services • Strategy and leadership

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

Collaboration • Community engagement • Community Power • Local government • Public Services • Wellbeing

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

Local government • Politics • Public Services

We at New Local condemn the racist and Islamophobic violence that black, Asian and migrant communities have been subjected to over recent days.

8th August, 2024

Public Services

Councils are facing reduced funding, rising demand and increasing costs. New Local and IPPO's research project explores how local authorities are responding and what we can learn.

31st July, 2024

Local government • Local government finance • Public Services

New Local Chair Katie Kelly talks to Shaheen Warren from our practice team ahead of our brand-new Radical Leaders event in September. Expect topics from leadership icons to Damascene moments and finding courage through collaboration.

29th July, 2024

Community Power • Leadership • Local government • Public Services • Strategy and leadership

Making the case for preventative services can be difficult, so it is vital that interventions can evidence their efficacy. Bridges Outcomes Partnerships have been working as part of the changing systems in children’s services in Norfolk and Suffolk where,...

23rd July, 2024

Childrens' Services • Prevention • Public Services

Colleagues throughout local government are still stuck between the rock of shrinking resources and the hard place of rising demand in many (if not all) service areas. The effect of the cost of living crisis is creating increased volatility...

23rd July, 2024

Prevention • Public Services

Tackling inequalities within communities is a vital issue for all local authorities. But often equalities strategies do not deliver for residents in a way that they expect or need. How can you centre equity in your Council’s work to...

22nd July, 2024

Community engagement • Equality • Public Services

New MPs have arrived for their first day on the job, the Cabinet is in post, and the wheels of government are turning once more. Catriona Maclay puts forward nine lessons that can be learnt from local government.

11th July, 2024

Central government • Community Power • Local government • Politics • Public Services • Strategy and leadership

Lydia Hutchings and Beth Kilheeney explain how the Greater Manchester Better Outcomes Partnership works with young people to prevent homelessness and how the project is being evaluated.

11th July, 2024

Community Power • Homelessness • Measurement and Evaluation • Public Services • Young people

Reflections on Stronger Things 2024 by Brendan Martin, Public World.

7th June, 2024

Community Power • Local government • Public Services • Stronger Things

Five reasons why we think Stronger Things might just be the most valuable eight hours of your year.

20th May, 2024

Community Power • Local government • Public Services • Stronger Things

In his last week as chief executive of New Local, Adam Lent ditches sensible moderation and describes the change we really need: radical integration, radical devolution and radical community power.

2nd May, 2024

Community Power • Devolution and reorganisation • Local government • Politics • Public Services

Labour lacks a strategy for a public sector under unprecedented pressure. The solution can be found on the frontline, says Adam Lent.

8th April, 2024

Community engagement • Community Power • Local government • Politics • Public Services

Adam Lent tackles some of the most common questions about community power in the public sector, from its benefits, to real-life examples, to its why its time has come in today's 'permacrisis'.

8th April, 2024

Community Power • Health and social care • Local government • Politics • Public Services

Adam Lent reflects on New Local’s fourth Radical Leadership session with local government leaders.

4th April, 2024

Community engagement • Community Power • Culture • Leadership • Local government • Public Services • Strategy and leadership

This member-exclusive Innovation Explored takes a look at how councils can develop their focus on community wellbeing.

4th April, 2024

Community engagement • Community Power • Local government • Measurement and Evaluation • Public Services • Wellbeing

From giving residents a blank sheet to determine the council’s priorities, to making statutory consultation processes interactive and fun, Test Valley Borough Council is pushing the envelope on community engagement.

20th March, 2024

Community engagement • Community Power • Local government • Public Services • Strategy and leadership

The suffocation of local government leaves Britain profoundly weaker just as the world becomes more hostile, says Adam Lent.

14th March, 2024

Local government • Local government finance • Public Services

This member-exclusive Innovation Explored takes a look at the opportunities emerging from design thinking for local government, and how design-led systems change can improve outcomes locally.

4th March, 2024

Local government • Public Services • Strategy and leadership

Jo Fitzpatrick and Jim Leyland explain how Wakefield Council had a Big Conversation with residents, training 100 ‘conversationalists’ to have over 1,300 face-to-face conversations with people across the district to find out what they like about their area and...

4th March, 2024

Community engagement • Community Power • Health and social care • Local government • Public Services

We put Des Keighan in our hot seat to hear how Swansea Bay University Health Board has become low carbon by retrofitting buildings and turning unused land into a solar farm which powers the local hospital.

27th February, 2024

Climate change • Healthcare • Public Services

Social entrepreneurs Brendan Martin and Cormac Russell share their take on Adam Lent’s recent blog about radical public service leadership developed with key figures in our network.

20th February, 2024

Community Power • Leadership • Local government • Public Services • Strategy and leadership

Eleanor Brown shares three lessons from piloting designing thinking at Enfield Council, and makes the case for problem solving from the outside in.

1st February, 2024

Community engagement • Local government • Public Services

A former secretary of state is calling for Total Place style pooled budgets as the best use of public spending when there is no financial quick fix for public services. Place-based budgets would allow services and communities to allocate...

31st January, 2024

Community engagement • Devolution and reorganisation • Health and social care • Local government • Local government finance • Place-based budgets • Public Services

This report sets out a new approach to public service investment and reform in England. By identifying all public money spent within a local area, and enabling it to be used more flexibly, spending could be more closely aligned...

31st January, 2024

Budgeting • Central government • Community Power • Health and social care • Local government • Local government finance • Place-based budgets • Public Services

Adam Lent takes a look back at the ups and downs of 2023, shares his hopes for the year to come (and channels Marilyn Monroe).

19th December, 2023

Community Power • Health and social care • Local government • Public Services

Helen Chicot from Rochdale Council introduces a three-year project which has used Good Help principles to tackle the council’s most pressing challenges, transforming the way the way it works and its relationships with residents.

24th November, 2023

Community engagement • Community Power • Health and social care • Local government • Public Services

Mila Lukic from Bridges Outcomes Partnerships spells out the problem with centralisation and why we need to think about service design and delivery in a very different way.

16th November, 2023

Community engagement • Community Power • Health and social care • Local government • Public Services

Fife Council's Mike Enston tells us about the challenge of growing inequalities, the council’s ambitions to redistribute power to the community and why you can’t visit Fife without enjoying some award-winning fish and chips.

9th November, 2023

Community engagement • Community Power • Interview • Local government • Public Services

Council leaders have set out a roadmap for reforming public services and rebuilding trust under a future Labour government, starting with giving meaningful power and influence to communities.

26th September, 2023

Devolution and reorganisation • Labour • Local government • Policy • Politics • Public Services • Strategy and leadership

Our public finances are in crisis. The next government will need to focus on making better use of existing money if it is to ensure better outcomes for local neighbourhoods. Jessica Studdert introduces A Labour Vision for Community Power...

26th September, 2023

Community Power • Local government • Local government finance • Public Services

Labour council leaders set out a route for Labour to deliver its objectives in government, starting with giving communities meaningful power and influence. A Labour Vision for Community Power is an ambitious agenda for action, driven by the principles...

26th September, 2023

Community Power • Labour • Local government • Local government finance • Politics • Public Services

Built on the power of relationships, this project brought together local residents with lived experience of poverty and key decision makers in the public, private and third sectors to identify solutions to poverty in Trafford.

13th September, 2023

Community engagement • Community Power • Community Voices • Interview • Local government • Poverty and inequality • Public Services