Join us for this member only Lunch and Learn session. New Local’s recent policy paper Place-based Public Service Budgets set out a case for ensuring better value for public money across all spend in an area. The report set...

28th March, 2024


Giving communities more agency has been linked to improved wellbeing. But to what extent is this backed up by evidence? And how do we help harness the benefits of community power – while avoiding the common pitfalls?

22nd June, 2023


There is an urgent need for action in response to the growing number of people across the UK affected by deepening poverty. Working in partnership with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation , we recently published a report on ‘designing out’...

13th June, 2023


As the NHS faces ever-rising demand, its founding principles are under threat. But there is a solution: a radical shift towards a healthcare system focused as much on preventing illness as treating it. Working collaboratively with communities in the design...

12th July, 2022


A year on from our report about community responses to the first lockdown, some local authorities have made great progress at working with community groups but others still struggle to collaborate.

10th February, 2022


Listening to communities can unlock co-benefits.

22nd November, 2021


It’s not NIMBYs preventing housing being built – it’s a system that creates conflict by design.

17th November, 2021


Introducing our new project on the ‘how’ of community power and our initial findings.

2nd November, 2021


Local action can play a major role in our response to climate change.

20th October, 2021


Local action is the ‘missing piece’ of plans to fight climate change.

20th October, 2021


The causes and effects of climate change are different in every part of the UK. If we want to achieve ‘net zero’ carbon emissions, we need local solutions to this national problem.

28th July, 2021


Thinking of climate change through a local lens can help us find practical solutions, and stop searching for silver bullets. Luca Tiratelli on our new research project in partnership with Groundwork and Grosvenor.

15th July, 2021


What's the role of inclusive growth in recovering from crisis? It's easy to see as a 'nice-to-have', but can be at the centre of helping us build back better.

18th May, 2021


The pandemic has shown the powerful ways communities, civil society and the public sector can come together in response to local challenges. But this kind of cooperative local problem solving – what we call community power – has much...

16th February, 2021


Shaped by conversations with public and third sector leaders across England, Wales and Scotland, Shifting the Balance explores how councils and communities joined together to fight Covid-19. And it sets out recommendations for how to take forward the adaptation,...

27th January, 2021


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


Is a growing economy something to celebrate when the benefits it brings are out of reach to many? While the economy grew as a whole in the 2017/18 financial year, the poorest 20 per cent of the population actually...

11th February, 2020


Created in 2012 following riots in our inner cities, the Government’s Troubled Families Programme has received praise and criticism in equal measure over the last seven years. Created by the dynamic and straight-talking Dame Louise Casey, it has starkly...

19th March, 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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


Councils should adopt “smarter” approaches to budgeting which make sure the strategic value of every pound goes towards meeting outcomes. They should no longer simply follow the patterns of past spending based on previous spending in individual departmental siloes.

1st December, 2014


This research shows that the spectre of unitary status is still holding back the potential for local collaboration, as local partners focus on the potential for nationally imposed reorganisation instead of focusing on the challenging business of working together.

29th October, 2014


This paper aims to provide a snapshot of how councils are preparing for the future. Based on interviews with senior officials from across the country, it provides a high level overview of how a number of authorities are going...

2nd October, 2014


In May 2014, NLGN held a roundtable discussion bringing together local government and SMEs to discuss opportunities and barriers to working together. This paper outlines the key themes that came out of the event.

12th August, 2014


This collection provides an overview of what this new spirit of collaboration has achieved thus far, and looks ahead to how the new combined authorities could develop in coming years. With both the Conservatives and Labour now committed to...

12th June, 2014


Better commissioning is a critical part of the future for local government. As councils redefine themselves for a new era of high demand and tight budgets, the quality of the processes they use to shape and source their services...

27th May, 2014


This report focuses on what local areas can do themselves to transform, and how central government can support this. What we really need is radical change of relationships at a local level, and to support areas to catalyse this...

6th May, 2014


This report looks at the challenges, difficulties and solutions that public health teams have experienced during, and since, the transfer. It also examines the extent to which public health has been integrated into local government and looks at whether...

12th December, 2013


In order to start a conversation between local and national leaders in advance of the manifesto writing process, NLGN have produced a collection of political essays from council leaders and influencers from all the main parties.

17th September, 2013


What will the councillors of the future look like? This paper starts with a short futures exercise which explores the styles of political leadership that are likely to emerge by the end of the decade as members grapple with...

16th July, 2013


A new report from NLGN and CBI reveals that conversations between councils and independent providers of public services are stuck in low gear. This creates a risk that councils will not be able to access the innovative new partnerships...

10th December, 2012


NLGN’s report – Grow Your Own: Skills and Infrastructure for Local Economic Growth, kindly supported by BT and Kent Country Council – argues local government must seize a new role as social venture capitalists to unblock stalled developments and...

16th April, 2012


Local councils of the future may undergo a process of ‘Californication’ as they respond to budget cuts, new analysis predicts. A report published today by localism think tank the New Local Government Network (NLGN) outlines three new models for...

7th September, 2011


A new White Paper from NLGN suggests that by following a model of bulk purchasing from energy providers recently launched in The Netherlands, councils can create significant savings for their residents.

21st July, 2011


NLGN's new report has revealed the tough challenge facing councils that are sharing services in order to fill the gap caused by the government’s spending cuts. But the report also warns that councils must be more innovative and ‘boldly...

1st March, 2011


Our report suggests that the government’s flagship ‘Green Deal’ programme will be in danger of failing to reach the households most in need of more energy efficient homes across the social housing sector.

22nd November, 2010


Proposals to make new elected Police Commissioners more accountable to broader local democratic government and their local communities are published in this new NLGN paper

16th November, 2010


The Government’s new General Power of Competence for local authorities will only work successfully if councils are given clear legal freedom according to the New Local Government Network. In a new report the think tank urges the Government to...

30th August, 2010


In the wake of the Coalition Government’s decision to scrap the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA), NLGN is today calling for remaining inspection regimes to be slimmed down and for local citizens to play a greater role in driving up...

20th July, 2010


This paper argues that users would benefit if better outcomes could be achieved more efficiently if public services were subject to less central instruction, as long as the necessary safeguards of transparency, scrutiny and accountability to local citizens are...

16th June, 2010