Title

Government needs to stop being shy about its exciting public service reform vision

By Jessica Studdert | 19 June 2025

There is a growing movement for more creative, grassroots-led public service reform to shift our ...

SAFEGUARDING

Councils need to step up and get a grip on CSE

By Heather Jameson | 19 June 2025

There has been political inaction across the major parties on child sexual exploitation, spanning...

FINANCE

Section 151 officers must be able to forecast with greater confidence

By Tracy Bingham | 19 June 2025

The sector knew not to expect full detail in the Spending Review but the absence of any further i...

PREVENTION

Spending Review: Little room for a more preventative approach to health

By Andria Mastroianni | 17 June 2025

Andria Mastroianni says relying on council tax to fill funding gaps risks exacerbating, rather th...

INFRASTRUCTURE

On the right track

By Greg Clark | 17 June 2025

After years without the clarity and stability of an Industrial Strategy, Greg Clark sees light a...

FINANCE

Council tax hikes will do the heavy lifting

By Kate Ogden | 17 June 2025

Surprisingly, local government wasn’t at the end of the queue for the chancellor’s cash – or at t...

FINANCE

SEND before spend

By Rob Powell | 17 June 2025

The impact of any failure to fully address SEND deficits will dwarf the benefits of the positive ...

PLACE-MAKING

Planning for places

By Rob Thomas | 17 June 2025

As delegates gather this week at the Welsh Local Government Association Conference, Rob Thomas en...

CLIMATE EMERGENCY

Settling old scores

By Annie Pickering | 17 June 2025

Annie Pickering says the second year of the Council Climate Action Scorecards reveals that more l...

REORGANISATION

Centralisation and aggregation are concentrations of power

By Catherine Howe | 16 June 2025

If the opportunity of reorganisation and devolution is about power- sharing, different models nee...