Earlier this week the comptroller and auditor general and head of the National Audit Office (NAO), Gareth Davies spoke in Parliament about two issues – stagnant productivity and a lack of resilience – that must be resolved if we are to get public spending on a more sustainable footing. And, crucially, how government, including local government, can use innovation to make fast gains on both fronts.

We have seen in the course of our work how the local government sector provided vital responses in times of crisis, from the Covid-19 pandemic to extreme weather events, while continuing to deliver core services. The sector has also had to become adept at thinking innovatively to manage within the financial constraints it has faced for some years.