The latest articles written by Kathy O'Leary

EMERGENCY PLANNING

Levels of community preparedness in the UK need improving

By Kathy O'Leary | 20 February 2026

What the Japanese lack is the legislative framework for emergency planning and response that we h...

FINANCE

Locality arrangements must be right to avoid remoteness between new unitaries and residents

By Kathy O'Leary | 16 December 2025

The recent removal of ‘remoteness’ as a factor in determining council funding through the Fair Fu...

REORGANISATION

Local Government Reorganisation dominates DCN chat

By By Kathy O’ Leary | 24 October 2025

The District Council's Network reception may have saw the baton handed to a new chairman, but the...

COHESION

Flagging up a problem

By Kathy O'Leary | 05 September 2025

Kathy O' Leary says that while the legal guidance stresses that flags are a very British way of e...

GOVERNANCE

Clampdown on committees

By Kathy O'Leary | 09 July 2025

Kathy O’Leary questions the thinking behind the abolition of the committee system

LEADERSHIP

Success is all in the preparation

By Kathy O’Leary | 27 May 2025

Kathy O'Leary writes: 'In district councils we’re prepared to do exactly what I did on marathon d...

REORGANISATION

More Don't Leave Me This Way than Never Can Say Goodbye?

By Kathy O’Leary | 06 April 2025

'Perhaps size doesn’t matter as much as finding what is optimal to work well at neighbourhood lev...

DEVOLUTION

Sprinting instead of marathon preparation

By Kathy O’Leary | 17 February 2025

There isn’t a united view on what unitary arrangements should look like for Gloucestershire, says...

A Dickens of a time ahead this Christmas

By Kathy O'Leary | 11 December 2024

Kathy O'Leary looks at why the English Devolution White Paper is likely to be a painful read for ...