Democracy, devolution and governance

Welcome to the twenties

Jonathan Carr-West’s latest column in The Municipal Journal.

LGiU Fortnightly 24 January: Devo 2.0 and lessons from Australia

Devo is back but what might it look like this time around? Jonathan and Andrew read the tea leaves. And Ingrid spoke with Luke Nicholls from SGS, our partner organisation in Australia, about local government’s role tackling the devastating recent bushfires.

Enhanced devolution and ‘levelling up’ in 2020 and beyond

This briefing considers three themes from the Queen’s Speech – levelling up, empowering local communities, and a ‘one nation’ Union – in the context of two major long run local authority ambitions – enhanced devolution and local growth.

How UK Towns are determining their futures

In 2019, Carnegie UK Trust decided to tell the story of a variety of towns, who face challenges like changes in their economic base, an ageing demographic, and funding cuts to local authorities – but are coming up with innovative solutions. In the report Turnaround Towns UK we reflect on nine towns’ stories that illustrate…

Swift Read: Innovation in Politics Awards 2019

This year, the Innovation in Politics Awards for the best political projects from all over Europe were presented in Berlin. 80 finalists and eight winners in eight categories were selected, and Ireland was well-represented in terms of submissions and selected finalists. This Swift Read presents LGiU’s coverage of the award ceremony and insights into the…

Further freedom? Possible extensions to the FOISA

This briefing explains which bodies and functions are subject to the Freedom of Information Act Scotland and how an extension of the act might be applied, covering the factors likely to be taken into account during consideration. It is likely to be of interest to local government officers working in the areas of Freedom of…

All-Party Parliamentary Group on Local Government

LGiU Fortnightly 10 January: Unfinished business for a new decade and a new government

It’s a new year, a new decade and a new government, but there’s still a lot of unfinished business from the last.  We look over some of the big ideas LGiU has promoted over the last ten years and that we still think need addressing as well as highlighting some of our top content from…

Queen’s Speech December 2019 – Highlights for Scottish local government

The second Queen’s Speech of the year provided confirmation of the commitments made in the General Election campaign, as well as a few surprises in the form of reviews and Commissions. Here is what’s relevant for Scottish local government.

Queen’s Speech December 2019 – Highlights for English local government

The second Queen’s Speech of the year provided confirmation of the commitments made in the General Election campaign, as well as a few surprises in the form of reviews and Commissions. Here is what’s relevant for English local government.