A total of 102 finalists have been selected for this year's The MJ Local Government Achievement Awards, which attracted the highest ever number of entries.

The awards are to be made in 16 categories to reflect the full range and diversity of local authority services:- best achieving council, children's services, community investor, reducing health inequalities, customer behaviour, delivering better outcomes, democratic services, innovative procurement, legal services, property portfolio, public private partnerships, public protection, quality in adult services, shared services, transformation through IT and workforce transformation.