In order to become a strong commercial council, local authorities need to be crystal clear about the problems they are trying to solve.

Being good at money management is taken as a given. What local voters want is for them to deliver on 'close to home' priorities: quality jobs and housing; safe and aspirational education; clean and green streets; a bright future for our children, friends and family; and for them to be provided at the best value for money.

So is local government doing the best it can to effectively commercialise? Possibly. Insights from our new report on income generation suggest commercialisation offers real potential but is not yet being fully exploited across the sector.