In this long read Janet Sillett looks at what makes a place a place, what makes some places work and others not, how councils chart the story of their places and respond to the changes that inevitably happen.
LGiU and The MJ have run the State of Local Government Finance Survey every January since 2012 to coincide with councils setting their annual budgets. The results give a snapshot of the key pressures facing councils and their ideas for the future.
This guide looks at business rates both as a tax and as a source of funding for local authorities and is largely based on LGiU policy briefings.
This collection of essays from 2017 explored three core policy questions – how should local government be funded, how to strengthen local democracy and how can we design and pay for an adult social care service that is fit for purpose. Questions that have grown increasingly critical with each passing year.
Our research, in partnership with the Ramblers, shows that local authorities want to build places that encourage walking and active travel.
At this key moment in the trajectory of the UK it is crucial to ask what the future has in store for local democracy. This is precisely what we do in Beyond Devolution, the final report of the Local Democracy Network, which LGiU convened throughout 2017.
This report, jointly written by researchers at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) and PwC, looks at how the views of councils’ decision-makers relate to the characteristics of the councils they represent or work for.
Johanna Boyd reflects on her time spent as leader of Stirling Council and shares her insights into what makes a successful councillor.
Engaging people in the decisions that affect their lives is an essential feature of local democracy. This goes far beyond town hall meetings and opinion surveys: we must recognise that communities often hold the answers to their own problems and allow them an equal voice at the table. For the purposes of this report, we…
This report is the result of a year-long study led by the Fawcett Society in partnership with the Local Government Information Unit, which asked ‘Does Local Government Work for Women?’ and contains recommendations to help solve the issues faced by women in town halls.