Local government has been in the midst of several intersecting crises for some time. Recent analysis from the National Audit Office concluded the challenges our councils face are so profound that the entire system of local government cannot be fixed anymore with short-term interventions and is at the risk of collapse.

The latest report from the Local Governance Research Centre at De Montfort University, commissioned by Unlock Democracy, seeks to address these questions – developing a diagnosis of the key issues that have led to an erosion of local government autonomy over the past 40 years.