With the recent announcement of the further roll-out of Universal Credit (UC), it is becoming clear that local government is being recognised as providing an opportunity to adopt best practice.

District councils have been at the forefront of localised delivery of services. It will be important that when the offer is made to co-locate services for the UC this is seen as the first step towards genuine integration.

One of our neighbouring councils (Melton BC) integrated a variety of agencies into its service delivery arrangements that are located within its area and designed around the needs of its local community.