I'm writing my column on the train back from London where we have just hosted our annual District Councils' Network chief executives' conference.

We were lucky to bag some great speakers for the event, including the Local Government Association's Mark Lloyd, Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy's Sean Nolan, the Departments for Communities and Local Government's Jillian Kay, the Local Government Information Unit's Dr Jonathan Carr-West and Jessica Studdert from The New Local Government Network, as well as some great input from chief executives.