What's the local vision and what structures will get us there writes Phil Swann. The government’s much anticipated devolution and recovery white paper looks set to be delayed. According to some reports ministers’ apparent enthusiasm for the creation of more unitary councils is rapidly waning. All of...
What is the daily cost of local authority social care, and how does that compare to one NHS hospital bed-day? What is the return on investment of each £1 spent on interventions to reduce drug and alcohol dependency? How much is spent on children’s...
Plans for unitary local government need to support wider public service reform – and this needs time writes Tony Blake. The government has reignited the unitary council debate but is local government reorganisation a guilty pleasure? We all know that the discussions distract from business as usual...
Council action on devolution must be as much about talking as options appraisal writes Phil Swann. Ministers look set to present councils in two tier areas with a stark choice: establish mayoral combined authorities and introduce unitary local government or in effect opt out of the possibility...
In just one year since the first local authority in the UK (Bristol CC) declared a climate emergency, two-thirds of all local authorities have followed suit. But how, in practice, do local authorities move quickly from a declaration of climate emergency, into practical action? In 2019...