Levelling up
Civic pride is about more than just hanging baskets
Owen Garling sets out the steps the Government needs to take if it is serious about enhancing civic pride and improving social capital, including unlocking devolution where it has stalled.
The case for an embedded cultural offer is made
Cross-sector partnerships are key to realising culture’s levelling up potential, says Emma Wilcox.
Local authorities can pave the way for digital inclusion
As a society, we need to equip the whole population with the skills, motivation, and trust to go online and be digitally capable, and much of the time this begins at the local authority level, says Graham Cutting.
Polling backs councils' fiscal devolution call
Ministers should devolve fiscal powers to councils to boost the UK’s economic recovery, South East Councils (SEC) has urged.
A community wealth fund could be a game changer
Local government needs to engage with the dormant assets consultation and help further strengthen the case for a community wealth fund, says Matt Leach.
What will the two leadership candidates mean for councils?
It is clear there are some major differences in the two Conservative leadership candidates' likely approaches if they win the top job, but it is less clear what they might mean for local government, says Sheila Oxtoby.
Waiting for council issues to get an airing
Local government has hardly featured in the initial debates of the Conservative leadership contest but that could be set to change given its importance to levelling up and reform of adult social care, says Simon Edwards.
Tory voters strongly support levelling up
Levelling up is the most popular of Boris Johnson’s policies among current Conservative voters, with 81% wanting the Tory leadership candidates to keep the agenda, a new poll has found.
Think tank calls for beefed up levelling up
A think tank has demanded the next government reverse council funding cuts and beef up the levelling up Bill after new figures revealed public spending continues to leave the North behind.
Financial sustainability is vital for councils
Chairman of the LGA Cllr James Jamieson says he met with the new secretary of state Greg Clark, welcomed him back to his former role and outlined 'the challenges and opportunities we face at this pivotal time'.
Inflation's impact is far-reaching
Cllr Sam Chapman-Allen says that for district councils 'to remain prudent, painful decisions will have to be made, and it is discretionary services which are likely to be hit hardest'.
A tale of two factions
As the Tory leadership candidates start setting out their campaign policies, how much are they revealing about their approaches to local government, devolution, levelling up and social care? Martin Ford reports.
Deprivation should be the cornerstone of council funding
The Fair Funding Review presents a huge opportunity to get ‘levelling up’ back on track, says Cllr Sir Stephen Houghton.
Repairing social housing’s disrepair
The Internet of Things (IoT) may well be integral to digital transformation in social housing, but the benefits it delivers cannot be fully realised unless social landlords assure seamless mobile connectivity, says Colin Abrey.
Game-ready in Brum
As the Commonwealth Games open next week, Birmingham City Council’s chief executive Deborah Cadman tells Heather Jameson they’ve been delivered in record time, with evidence of investment in every ward.
As bad as rotten boroughs
We did not create universal suffrage in order for 0.5% of the electorate to vote for the next Prime Minister, a system as rotten as the 19th century rotten boroughs, says Michael Burton.
The new PM needs to get on with levelling up
'The crisis has proved it is more important than ever to bolster our cities and towns against future hardships and this should be at the forefront of the next PM’s mind', says Andrew Carter.
What lies ahead for the flagship agendas?
'Securing long-term funding was always needlessly tricky for local authorities, but will become even more challenging in the months ahead with the revolving doors to the Treasury and No10 about to come off their hinges', says Rob Whiteman.
Even a rebrand will not stop levelling up
So will the next PM grasp the levelling up agenda and push it forward, asks Heather Jameson. 'Call it what you will, this is what councils do and will continue to do, whoever takes over at No10.'
Government urged to scale up levelling up
The Government is focusing on the right issues as part of its levelling up agenda but needs to dramatically scale up investment and effort, according to the Institute for Government (IfG) think-tank.