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Originally published in the Municipal Journal [22/01/25] The excitement of drawing boundary lines in maps of our country to fit devolutionary whims is seemingly as irresistible to armchair commentators as it is to MHCLG mandarins and ministers alike. One is reminded of the lines from the W.H. Auden poem ‘Partition’ written in the aftermath of […]
Originally published in the Local Government Chronicle [21/01/25] The AI Opportunities Action Plan as published on Monday is that rare bird. It is a genuinely ambitious grand vision (promising an astonishing end of decade £400bn economic boom through enhancing workplace innovation and productivity) matched by a readily understandable blueprint that points to a technological revolution […]
So there it is then. After months of speculation, the gauntlet for the most significant rewiring of central-local state functionality in decades has been laid down. While this particular set piece has only been in play since the election in July, it also represents a significant step forward in a longer-term process: the gradual reshaping […]
Originally published in the Local Government Chronicle [11/12/24] Well so much for that was the year that was. In a year of major domestic news and local government sector developments running as rapidly and crazily at times as a Latin American telenovela, 2024 is finally running out of weeks. But not before the epic season’s […]
Originally published in the Municipal Journal [04/12/24] Restoring strategic capacity for long-term resilience will be vital to twin pillars of public service transformation and nuanced devolution in the country’s most populous region, argues Jonathan Werran. At the time of writing, we’re living in one of those times for local government when, to paraphrase Lenin, more […]
Originally published in the Local Government Chronicle [19/11/24] Apocryphally, it was Napoleon who derided Imperial Russia as ‘So vast, so weak.’ The same thought applies to the nature of the British state, which from recent Budget documents is forecast to be spending £1.5 trillion by 2029/30 – having only breached the trillion barrier at the […]
The first budget of a new governing party, particularly one which last saw power in a very different UK, ought to tell us something about the type of country they are looking to create. This vision is of course connected to the answer to a broader question: why did people vote Labour in July? There […]
Originally published in the MJ – 23/09/2024 The new Government’s commitment to fixing foundations brings a chance for a long-term vision of renewal for the nation’s pubs, argues Joe Fyans The decline of the British local pub is an issue well-known to punters and policymakers alike. At Localis, we have been working with the British […]
Originally published in the Municipal Journal – 12/09/2024 The snap July General Election and postponement of this year’s Local Government Association conference meant there was nothing for it but to spend the summer rewriting our latest report Heart of the Matter – getting to grips with whole place transformation. This meant reflecting on the new […]
Originally published in Public Finance – 4/09/24 “In the spirit of Clement Attlee,” announced deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner in a speech at the UK Real Estate Investment & Infrastructure Forum, “our approach to housebuilding will be both proactive and strategic.” In our report, Design for Life: The Smart Regeneration Journey to 2030, Localis addresses […]