Local government understands that sometimes it is beneficial to press the flesh rather than offer up a pound of it.

A recent IPPR poll showed the public trust their councils more than Westminster and faced with 40% funding cuts, it's essential for public sector plc to unite and collaborate to help shape places and ‘rewire' the delivery landscape.

Breaking down silos and working as one team is key to how we operate in our own authorities as it is to working across organisational and sector boundaries. Often we can better serve ‘local' by thinking and learning nationally.