Keeping in touch with members
As the summer comes to an end and autumn approaches, I hope you had the opportunity to enjoy some time off after what has been a very busy six months for us all.
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Will warnings on council finances go unheeded?
Another week, another U-turn – this time, the botched A-level results saga. And a government that claims to be ‘levelling up’ has proved once again that this is just one more empty slogan to add to the pile.
Riding roughshod over local communities
We finally saw the Government’s planning reforms, sneaked out at midnight on a Wednesday, just before the start of the summer holidays.
Planning ‘does not prevent development’
August was dominated by new government proposals on planning, scene setting for a White Paper on recovery and reorganisation, and the school exams fiasco.
The costs of inequality
Witnessing the distressing scenes of George Floyd’s death as a white police officer knelt on his neck as he gasped for air was beyond belief.
The transition to a more sustainable future
Having declared a climate emergency in 2019, we believe Southwark was the first English council to appoint a director of climate change, tasked with taking forward a plan that is inclusive, transparent and ambitious.
Getting communities back on their feet
With the hospitality sector now open, the country is slowly leaving the first phase of the pandemic.
Pandemic has taught me so much
When a pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization on 11 March, I was fresh out of university and only five months into my role at St Albans City & District Council.
Anyone for tennis?
As the national governing body for tennis, we would normally be reflecting on another brilliant grass court season, though sadly this year that’s not the case.
Locally led devolution
The LGA has long called for greater devolution to councils, for local leaders to have the powers and resources they need to better deliver locally determined and democratically accountable outcomes.