With less than a week to go until the 1 May local elections in England, I wanted to put on record my thanks to all those colleagues who are standing for re-election or standing down.
Being a councillor – and thereby being able to make a difference to the lives of our local residents and the places we live – is hugely rewarding.
It is also an increasingly demanding role, given the wider social and political context in which we operate – so I wish you all well on 1 May and thank you for your dedication and public service.
Devolution and local government reorganisation (LGR) continue to offer challenges and opportunities across our sector. I was pleased to see the LGA’s LGR Delivery Network meet for the first time earlier this month, bringing together more than 100 officer colleagues from councils across the country to discuss the practical and technical aspects of LGR.
The LGA continues to update its devolution and LGR hub, and it’s not too late to sign up for our latest virtual event, on 28 April, providing insights from senior elected members with recent experience of reorganisation.
Meanwhile, with less than two months until the Spending Review on 11 June, we will be accelerating our lobbying with the Government to reiterate the evidence, asks and recommendations set out in our comprehensive submission.
Finally, I’m delighted that Impact: The Local Government Graduate Scheme, run by the LGA, has been officially recognised as one of the top 50 graduate employers in the country in The Times newspaper’s Top 100.
Following a rebrand, Impact received a record number of applications this year from graduates eager to work in our sector, and who will provide a pipeline of future leadership talent to help us make the most of all the challenges and opportunities we face.