The letter has been sent. The deed is done. But today is really just the beginning. Whether you are watching today’s events begrudging, jubilantly, with denial, or even boredom it is impossible to ignore the forceful eruption of a national conversation around the public’s dissatisfaction with our current systems of representation, decision-making, and accountability. The […]
In recent years, the word ‘place’ has become a bit of a buzzword in the local government sector. Terms like ‘place-leadership’, ‘place-branding’ and ‘place-building’ are now ubiquitous in strategy documents and comms plans – used to imply a more responsive type of authority. Councils often describe themselves as ‘places’ – as opposed to ‘organisations’. For […]
At Essex County Council we are passionate about making a positive contribution to the lives of Essex residents and businesses. It is what we exist for. The qualities of the places around us play an important role in our lives. The NLGN Building Homes, Growing Communities report distils the existing evidence about the impact of […]
Local government faces a funding gap of £5.8 billion by 2019/20. At the launch of NLGN’s latest research report Tomorrow’s Places, Theo Blackwell, Councillor at LB Camden, stated “Technology will help us balance the books if we do it in the right way”. The report recommends that councils embrace social innovation and collaboration to support […]
On International Women’s Day this year, we celebrated the role of women in the local government workforce, and the importance of diversity in policy-making. We made three short films full of advice and experiences from women across the country, at all stages in their local government careers. We received incredible footage of reflection and advice […]
Most councils indulge in partnerships, but how many actually achieve what they were set up to do? As a county council, our oldest partnership is with our unitary city and our 8 districts and boroughs, both separately and collectively. We all aim to get better at being more joined up and share information or try […]
I know someone who’s renowned for his scepticism. The only problem is, he’s now so sceptical that he doesn’t feel able to trust anything. People who post videos on YouTube seem to have as much, or little, credibility as professional journalists. After all, journalists can succumb to group think. And who’s paying them, anyway? The […]
“Too many areas of policy covered by local government are male dominated – infrastructure, highways, planning… the most important thing is to put women in positions of responsibility in those areas, leading by example, reflecting the needs of their communities, and making a difference.” These striking words from Councillor Judith Blake summarise what we know […]
