For many colleagues at the County Councils' Network's (CCN) Annual Conference 2021 a few weeks ago it was the first time they were able to network with those they had not seen in over 18 months.

Of course, the pandemic is still here – the emergence of a new variant is a sobering reminder of that. But our event focused on the future and aimed to position county councils and unitary authorities as the ones that can lead on the numerous challenges ahead as the Government seeks to deliver economic and social recovery.