How can local government support thriving and prosperous communities?
The Careers and Enterprise Company’s State of the Nation 2019 report finds careers education is improving overall with over half of schools running regular encounters with employers. Disadvantaged areas are among the highest performing in the country on careers education but great variation in the level and quality of careers education throughout England.
As more students choose to study internationally, local governments can positively address the impact of international students on cities. This briefing showcases how local government in three cities in Scotland, England, and Australia incorporate international students into their strategic planning to reap significant benefits to local areas, such as promoting investment and addressing demographic concerns.
Towns are starting to get the attention they deserve in policy terms. LGiU has long covered the particular challenges facing smaller towns and Janet Sillett looks at issues.
This briefing deals with two recent JRF reports on the voting behaviour and priorities of low income voters. Taken together, they vividly illustrate the needs and priorities of people living on low incomes. Low income groups have become more important in recent elections, and political parties are constructing their offers accordingly.
Party conference season is over for another year and much ink has been spilled over the headline announcements. However, LGiU used the conferences as an opportunity to catch up with our members, council leaders and policy-makers about their views on the challenges facing local government. We’ve been looking at how national policy announcements match up…
LGiU ran a survey of chief executives of all UK local authorities, asking them about how their council is preparing for Brexit. The survey ran throughout September 2019, receiving 63 responses (15% of chief executives) covering councils in all regions and all tiers.
Local authorities play a vital role in mitigating the decline of their town centres by working in partnership with others and making use of funding streams available to create more sustainable community centres. This briefing summarises what councils can do to help with this.
In May 2019 the North of Tyne Combined Authority elected its inaugural Mayor. The Mayor has pledged to create10,000 jobs, adding over £1 billion in goods and services and levering over £2 billion of private sector investment. What are the prospects and challenges for this new combined authority?
The UK2070 Commission has published its first report into spatial inequalities in the UK. Regional disparities affect everyone, whether they live in a prosperous or struggling area, but are not inevitable. With the right policy interventions and institutional reforms the trends can be reversed.
This briefing is the second of three assessing the Chancellor’s spending announcements made in Spending Round 2019. it looks at the current state of public finances and the shortening available spending headroom under current fiscal rules. A page has been turned on austerity, but much remains uncertain.