Smith Square's new chairman, Cllr James Jamieson, has used the Brexit stalemate to demand greater council control over the way local communities are funded and managed.

Delivering his first speech as LGA chairman, Cllr Jamieson, used the platform to express frustration at the fact that Whitehall has become pre-occupied with trying to navigate a path through Brexit – at the expense of vital and much-needed local public policy.