Total Place must not be seen merely as another edict or buzz-phrase generating talk but no change. It is as much a challenge back for Whitehall and any test of seriousness can be judged nationally as well as locally. Chris Leslie & Nigel Keohane, Public Finance

Issues like climate change, public health and social care remain tough challenges, and local government can’t face them alone. Anna Turley, ACEVO

Very few politicians have dared touch the idea of decentralising the welfare state, primarily because of its close affinity with UK citizenship and the potential pitfalls and undesirable consequences that could arise if handled incorrectly.
Chris Leslie, Local Government Chronicle

Although to many the question of electoral reform may seem slightly esoteric, this pre-election period is likely to throw up a host of unintended policy possibilities indirectly affecting local government, even if they were not originally part of the equation.
Chris Leslie, Public Finance

Councils must adopt a more collaborative approach, so that they match functional economic sub-regions and better encompass the area in which citizens live their lives and businesses tend to operate.
Nick Hope, Public Sector Executive

Unless the local government community is careful, it may feel the cold consequences of the nation’s obsession with deficit reduction.
Chris Leslie, Public Finance

We need to find new and radical ways of engaging people in the decision-making process or our democratic institutions will risk a crisis of legitimacy.
Nick Hope and Nirmalee Wanduragala, Progress.

With the opinion polls broadly indicating a twelve point lead for the Conservatives, Gordon Brown will need a powerful strategy to close this gap – so what would it take?
Chris Leslie, Yorkshire Post.