Attending an MJ lunch and mixing with some rather ‘august' contributors recently, the guests were invited (or indeed ‘commanded' by the magazine's editor, Heather Jameson), to reflect on their thoughts on contemporary local government.

As might be imagined from a group of local authority chief executives, think-tank ‘thinkers', academics, consultants, an-ex local government minister, an opinion pollster and broader commentators – there was a wide and ‘divergent' range of opinions and thoughts.