Close co-operation to aid our communities
As Solace's annual Summit gets underway in Birmingham this week, president Martin Swales urges local authorities to work with others on building their local economies.
Opinion
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Getting to grips with youth violence
October 15, 2019
Stuart Gallimore says the Government’s response to serious youth violence and knife crime addresses the symptoms, not the root causes.
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Mending a shattered society
October 15, 2019
Local government must be the glue that mends the broken bonds of our communities, writes Donna Hall.
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Boosting Britain needs more than a fistful of Bills
October 15, 2019
Following the Queen's Speech, Heather Jameson says that personally her glass is at least half-full. But as the Prime Minister prepares to boost Britain after we leave the EU, Government policy is looking somewhat paradoxical.
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The Northants transformation challenge
October 9, 2019
Northamptonshire CC still has huge challenges, explains Paul Helsby – but the difference is that everyone is working together to create financial sustainability.
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HEALTH MJ: Addressing welfare state inequalities
Solutions to the social care funding problem are there, says Michael Burton - they just need leadership from politicians to deliver them.
Who are you talking to?
Who you regularly sit down with and who you talk to one-to-one makes a difference and who gets to talk to who varies from one authority to another, says Blair Mcpherson.
Renewing the focus on growth
We need a refreshed and re-energised emphasis on the role councils can play in supporting place-based growth, explains Jonathan House
The answer to the leadership question
Blair Mcpherson looks at how leaders have to come to terms with the apparent contradictions inherent in demonstrating leadership behaviour.
Housebuilding plans still constrained by affordability
Simone HInes was hoping for confirmation in the spending round that the business rates reset will be deferred until 2021/22 and for measures to improved the ability of local authorities to boost council housebuilding
Boosting jobs for older workers could alleviate social care costs
Social care needs more funding, but the state is missing a trick if it fails to increase employment rates among the more active retirees, says Michael Burton.
From the archive
Wellbeing is about much more than just health
Wellbeing has been a familiar term in local government for a number of years but what does this mean in practice, writes New Economics Foundation researcher Christine Berry.
Collective responsibilities
Abdool Kara sets out three example areas - New Homes Bonus, business rates and sector-led improvement - where the councils need to acknowledge and act on the basis of wider needs, even at the expense of authority self-interests.
Now is the time to rebuild the union
Heather Jameson assesses the cost to national unity of the politically engineered divisons that have emerged from this closely contested General Election.