There has never been a better time to be in local government, according to local government secretary, Eric Pickles, speaking at a conference in London last week.
In one of his first major speeches in his new role, the minister outlined his three clear priorities – localism, localism and localism.
‘We are determined to wrest control from the bureaucrats, the quangos and central government departments, taking power and pushing it as far away from Whitehall as possible,' he said.
He claimed there were three things which local government must understand about the Conservative version of localism:
it must step up to the plate and seize the opportunities
