This welcome message is part of our Resources for New Councillors.
Congratulations on being elected as a new councillor. You are at the start of an amazing journey, representing your local communities and helping to shape local services and neighbourhoods during the biggest cost of living crisis we have seen for decades.
The role of a councillor can be unbelievably rewarding, but no-one said it was easy. How do you keep on top of everything that’s going on? How do you process huge amounts of technical information at short notice? How do you know what other councils are doing and what works? How do you navigate a sea of information to find the best ideas?
That’s where LGIU comes in. For almost 40 years the LGIU has been by the side of local government. We are the largest independent membership organisation for councils. We give councillors and councils officers the information they need to do their jobs today, the ideas they need to improve for the future and the networks they need to learn and to share.
We do this through policy briefings, a daily news service, training, independent research and practitioner networks.
And it’s not just in the UK. We believe that local government is at its best when it is informed, engaged and networked, and that all our members gain value from global perspectives, lessons and relationships. We work in the Republic of Ireland and Australia and share best practices from around the globe.
We know that places are unique, sometimes even down to a neighbourhood or a street; but so many of the challenges faced by local governments and by elected representatives are shared with their colleagues across countries and across continents. So we have just launched Global Local, a new newsletter service sharing local government good practice and innovation from across the globe.
We would love you to be part of all that we do. We are only as good as the combined wisdom of our members and the more we hear from you the better we can serve you. If your council is a member of LGIU you have unlimited access to all our materials and resources. We hope that they help you as you begin your career as a councillor.
Best wishes,
Jonathan Carr-West
Chief Executive LGIU
New councillor? What you need to know about LGIU
The Local Government Information Unit is your source for information, innovation and ideas about local government. Founded by local government, fully owned and governed by local government and staffed by people who are passionate about local democracy – LGIU is your organisation. This post is here to help you get the most out of LGIU.
We provide information and support to people who are elected to or work in local government. On our resources for new councillors page we’ll be adding materials over the next days and weeks to help you get to grips with your new role. Our briefing for new councillors is available now and we’ll be adding more introductory primers for specific policy areas as well as sharing the perspectives of councillors who have been where you are now.
Sign up here for alerts to our latest content and to access member resources.
Membership matters
LGIU is an independent, non-partisan membership organisation. We offer organisational membership, with no limits on how many people at your local authority can benefit. Want to find out if your council is one of our nearly 200 members? Check our list of members here or pop your new council email address in here to register straight away and find out if your council is an LGIU member.
What you’ll get as a member:
- We provide around 300 policy briefings each year on everything that matters in local government.
- Daily News – all the latest news about local government straight to your inbox first thing every day.
- Our new Global Local subscription service included as part of your membership.
- Member-exclusive policy events.
- Weekly newsletter with highlights of our member exclusive content.
- Blog and podcast with insight and inspiration.
- Member exclusive events.
- Discounts on LGIU training.
- A chance to influence what we research and the content we publish – get in touch if you’d like to see a briefing on a particular subject.
More than members
As a charitable organisation with a mission to serve local government and the communities that they serve, we provide some of our information services to the wider sector rather than to just members. While our information briefings are exclusive to members, there are many reasons to sign-up as a Follower (it’s free and easy to do).
- Our research reports and longreads are developed with the sector and most of these are available to Followers.
- A weekly newsletter, packed with resources to support you.
- The LGIU blog with ideas and good practice from home and around the globe.
- Our regular podcast featuring interviews with the insightful and inspirational in local government.
Get linked in:
The best way to use our services is to sign up to notifications. This way you’ll be able to get everything you’re interested in, from developing new skills to following the latest local government news. You can tailor your preferences to get as much or as little as you need.
So it just remains to say: welcome to the LGIU! We hope you settle into your new role quickly and we look forward to working with you over the coming months and years.
