What do all the party’s election manifestos say for local government? We’ve picked out all the relevant issues in the posts below: what does Labours manifesto mean for local government?what does Liberal Democrat’s manifesto mean for local government?what does Conservatives manifesto mean for local government?what does UKIP’s manifesto mean for local government?What does Green manifesto […]

At this General Election, local government is at crossroads, with the two main parties offering very different directions for the future of councils and the communities they serve. The role that councils play in supporting local people means that we must have a government that is interested in serving the many, and not the few. […]

The Prime Minister is right in elevating social care to one of this election’s defining issues – reflecting the very need for radical change that many of us have long been calling for. Some may have been disappointed the manifesto lacked the long-list of pre-packed bite-sized pledges now expected by 24-hour news and social media. […]

Pye Nyunt writes about his experience of setting up a council insight function. In October 2016, we set up the “Insight Hub” at Barking & Dagenham Town Hall, with the aim to focus on making better use of the council’s data to understand customer needs, forecast future demand and design behavioural interventions. There is a […]

What’s clear from this report is that there is an appetite in the worlds of both health and social care for greater integration to deliver a more joined-up care experience for users and to make more efficient use of resources. What remains less clear is how this will be delivered in practice. There is no […]

UKIP support has grown out of local opposition to the effects of a globalised economy, channelled through its anti-EU stance. Perhaps unsurprisingly then, following the public vote to Brexit last June, the party have struggled to set out a coherent vision for a post-EU domestic agenda. Now that their largely one trick pony has bolted […]

The local elections earlier this month saw several city regions elect first time Metro Mayors. The turnout in places like Manchester (29%), where Andy Burnham was elected, was pretty good for a plebiscite on a newly devolved role. In the past, votes have fallen as low as 15% with contests like the Police and Crime […]

Like the Green or Women’s Equality Parties, the Cooperative Party Manifesto was written with an explicit desire for its policies to be adopted by another party. But unlike them, this manifesto represents the priorities of a number of MPs likely to be elected to parliament. Whilst many Labour MPs are also members of the Co-operative […]