A new report, published today, is calling on councils to be given new powers to charge for local services. The report, from the New Local Government Network think tank, follows Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg’s demands for new freedoms for local government to raise money from a wide range of new charges. The Communities in [...]

A new report by localism think tank NLGN has set out a vision for more sustainable local public services beyond the current financial settlement and the aims of the government’s Localism Bill. Next Localism: Five trends for the future of local government explores how a new relationship between State and Citizen could make a reality [...]

In evidence to the Department of Communities and Local Government Select Committee, Localism think tank NLGN called on central government to earn its right to exercise power.

Radical proposals to open the whole of the State to local community-run services have been put forward by the New Local Government Network think tank, in advance of the second reading of the Localism Bill in Parliament next week. Under NLGN’s proposals ‘the right to challenge’ would be opened up to apply to all corners [...]

NLGN’s analysis has demonstrated that the most deprived areas have been hit the hardest by today’s Finance Settlement. Anna Turley, Deputy Director of NLGN said: ‘When the cuts in local government funding are set against the Multiple Indices of Deprivation, NLGN’s analysis shows that poorer areas will shoulder a disproportionate percentage cut. This will pose [...]

NLGN today welcomed the publication of the Localism and Decentralisation Bill as a radical first step to devolving power from the centre. Commenting on the legislation, NLGN Director Simon Parker said that the Bill represented a very positive direction of travel from the government and was the most important piece of legislation for local authorities [...]

Our report suggests that the government’s flagship ‘Green Deal’ programme will be in danger of failing to reach the households most in need of more energy efficient homes across the social housing sector.

Proposals to make new elected Police Commissioners more accountable to broader local democratic government and their local communities are published in this new NLGN paper