One of the striking aspects from the recent LGA Conference was the vibrancy of new ideas and innovations taking place in the sector.

While there are always naysayers who think the art of partnership working is to sell to or takeover the other organisation’s services (if they even consider sharing services is an option!), the growth of the members and officers who are committed to working together to provide high quality services for their communities (particularly in district councils) is something for the sector to be confident about.

True in any scenario there will be difficulties in transforming the way services are provided from traditional in-house methods to new ‘alternative delivery vehicles’.