Brexit
Cutting 91,000 civil servants: ‘Efficiency’ at what cost?
Against a backdrop of unprecedented strain, it is difficult to see how a radical reduction in civil service numbers will increase efficiency or improve the quality of public services, says Lucy Woods.
Fears over Procurement Bill red tape
The Government has rejected concerns that new procurement rules will create more red tape for local authorities.
Council leaders warn of post-Brexit shortage of professional regulators
Local authority leaders have urged the Government to do more to train staff to work in the regulatory system due to an increase in post-Brexit challenges.
Will the fair funding review be another damp squib?
David Phillips says that, if the fair funding review becomes a repeat of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, it increases the risk that the Government’s flagship levelling up agenda remains little more than a slogan.
Telling London’s story
There are votes to be had from ‘bashing the city’ and the story that levelling up has to mean taking resources away from London needs to be challenged. Ann McGauran reports from a panel discussion.
Planning for the new workforce
Hybrid working and chronic shortages mean councils need to radically rethink their workforce strategies. Michael Burton talks to Gordon McFarlane, the new president of the association representing HR professionals, about what lies ahead.
Shared Prosperity Fund shortfall leaves a gaping hole at the heart of levelling up
The Shared Prosperity Fund allocations present a bleak picture, and represent serious cuts, but the concerns don’t end at the lack of money, says Henri Murison.
Rhythms and rhetoric do not a devolution make
There is still a long way to go before the Johnson Government’s devolution rhetoric feels like a reality, says Heather Jameson
UK Shared Prosperity Fund: there is time to put flaws right
Lord Bob Kerslake says the UK Shared Prosperity Fund has fallen short on all of his three key tests of matching the scale of EU funding, delivering the Government's levelling up ambitions and advancing devolution.
A national workforce strategy is needed to tackle skills shortage
With pay likely to remain stagnant and labour shortages to continue, local authorities need a robust workforce strategy with the full backing of central Government, says Michael Burton.
Make levelling up ‘project possible’
If we are to really tackle a regional inequality challenge that has not budged for 70-plus years, it requires us to work differently with communities and neighbourhoods, says Helen Goulden.
Consistent craving
Ministerial decisions to upend long-term policy commitments are the enemy of local economic planning and public service reform, writes Jonathan Werran.
A way of doing politics differently
Can we do politics in new ways that engage people rather than being alienating, adversarial and fraught? Ann McGauran listened to the views of a Stronger Things panel.
London’s continuing uncertainty over UKSPF
Cllr Nesil Caliskhan says London boroughs waited in vain for an update in the spring statement on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and concerns remain that the capital will lose out.
Net zero culture war
A localist and levelling up aligned approach to decarbonisation is all that stands between us and the threat of a net zero culture war, writes Jonathan Werran.
We need action, not a taskforce
The Levelling Up White Paper announced a taskforce into the lack of housing with care for the retired. Michael Burton argues this poorly-provided sector is another example of the dearth of policy for reducing long-term pressures on the NHS and care.
The pitfalls of deregulation
Dan Corry doubts that most of the British public will see much gain or even much change two years on from leaving the European Union
The levelling up of local government funding is long overdue
The system for funding local services is desperately in need of root and branch reform and a half-hearted fair funding review will just store up even bigger problems for the future, says Chris Tambini.
Government sign-off required to 'unlock' UKSPF
Councils will have to draw up investment plans to access the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF), the Government has revealed.
Minding the skills gap in Waltham Forest
Waltham Forest’s swift response to the HGV driver shortage is an example of a national problem with a local solution, says Martin Esom.
