New Local
There's a whiff of purpose once more on devolution
Devolution should rock the status quo and create a new culture of governance which pushes everyone who currently holds decision-making power out of their comfort zones, says deputy chief executive of New Local Jessica Studdert.
Ring-fenced funds are not well suited to the roaring demand challenges of the twenties
By doing away with ring-fences all together, local partners would be freed up to collaborate and share more power and resource directly with communities, argues Jessica Studdert.
Councils need power and financial freedom to tackle housing, says think-tank
Councils and communities need more powers and financial freedoms to drive new development and resolve the housing crisis, a think-tank has argued.
Minister tells councils price of devolution
Levelling up minister Neil O’Brien has told councils they will have to improve their ‘governance, efficiency and service delivery’ in return for more devolution, The MJ understands.
Call for ground-up approach to carbon reduction
The Government must ‘match the ambition of communities’ on reducing carbon emissions, a think-tank has said.
St Albans festival pulls out all the stops
National Graduate Development Programme trainee Thomas Wrench says councils’ investment in activities such as the St Albans International Organ festival will be fundamental to COVID-19 recovery and uniting communities.
Councils must recognise the threat to locally delivered social care
The local government sector, and the bodies which represent it, need to switch from a stance that welcomes small steps to one that recognises the existential threat that locally delivered social care now faces, argues Jessica Studdert.
'Health is made at home, hospitals are for repairs'
Lord Nigel Crisp says coalitions of local interest have a vital role when it comes to improving lives. Councils as guardians of places will always have a key part to play, ‘whatever the future arrangements for managing health and social care’.
Gazing up at the future of community power
Following on from a three-day event in March, New Local's Building Stronger Things looked at how to put the ideas of the community paradigm into practice locally. Ann McGauran reports.
Creating an imagining culture
Building ‘a more open, transparent, free-thinking culture where imagination thrives within our teams’ is crucial, and is especially important during the pandemic, argues Professor Donna Hall CBE.
Community – the strongest thing of all
The recurring message from the host of high profile speakers at Stronger Things 2021 is that those in power centrally and locally need to sit up, take notice of the community power movement, and really begin to cede control, says Katy Oglethorpe.
Marmot - Build Back Better must tackle the plight of care workers
The Government’s Build Back Better plan must tackle the plight of adult social care workers left without ‘a proper employment structure,’ says the UK’s leading expert on health inequalities.
We need to better capture the impact of community power
New Local's latest report forensically and persuasively shows community power works, and now we need to measure it better, says Luca Tiratelli.
A chance to speak as one
Community power is gaining momentum across the public sector, says Adam Lent. In advance of New Local’s ‘Stronger Things’ event in March, he outlines why it’s time to build a united voice for change.
Levelling up means devolving down
To ‘build back better’ we need to use recovery to invest in approaches that foster stronger place-based partnerships, says Graham Duxbury.
Building a New Local
NLGN has changed its name to New Local. Professor Donna Hall says the network will have the same objectives, but they will be expanded to welcome a wider range of sectors. But there will be ‘no watering down of the focus on local government’.
