NLGN have said that the Housing Green Paper will put local authorities back at the heart of house building for the first time in a generation and the plans rightly recognised the role that councils could perform in building social housing, helping first-time buyers and supporting an unstable housing market.

Reacting to the report from the Commons Modernisation Committee on Regional Accountability, NLGN welcomed their backing for Regional Select Committees but warned that some of the details could stifle rather than promote regional autonomy.

Reacting to the Empowerment White Paper, NLGN Director Chris Leslie said that it represented an “important first step in promoting active citizenship and bringing people closer to local decision making” and suggested that many of the initiatives in the paper should also be extended to Whitehall.

This collection of essays brings together the reflections of leading thinkers within local government, setting out a range of ideas on future service delivery, leadership, citizen interaction and rebalancing the relationship between central and local government.