This note from the Chief Executive is from our March newsletter. You can read the newsletter in full here and register to receive it straight to your inbox on our homepage. “If you can’t annoy somebody” wrote Kingsley Amis, “there is little point in writing.” With so many Localis reports being released in the coming […]
On proposals to diversify the developer market Localis chief executive Liam Booth-Smith said: “The real test of the government’s housing white paper will be whether they can diversify and disrupt the developer market. Large house builders are close to capacity and, to be frank, appear content with the status quo. The commitment to encourage greater […]
Role summary The fast growing think tank Localis needs a Communications Manager to oversee its communications and events work. As a leading voice in the devolution and public service reform debate this is an exciting opportunity to join a growing think tank influencing important policy areas. We’re looking for someone to be responsible for […]
This note from the Chief Executive is from our February newsletter. You can read the newsletter in full here and register to receive it straight to your inbox on our homepage. I was pleased to see the other day residents of Richmond Park have six golf courses within a two mile radius. Not because I […]
Utter the words industrial strategy and your stock response will invariably include a reference to “picking winners”, the 1970s and Tony Benn’s zeal to nationalise anything that moved. This time last year the term was all but banned in government circles, with an industrial approach favoured instead. Its return under the May administration was met […]
Welcoming the Prime Minister’s release of the government’s new green paper ‘A modern Industrial Strategy’ Localis think tank Chief Executive, Liam Booth-Smith, said: “The focus on skills and technical education is welcome but this is only one part of what a modern industrial strategy needs. The UK requires a blend of transport, education, tax and […]
In his latest column for LGC, Liam Booth-Smith writes why Theresa May’s vision for a shared society has more substance than she has been given credit for. The Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein used to share a parable with his students in which he asked them to imagine a man who had spent his entire life eating nothing […]
Increasing the social care precept, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, is the worst option except for all the others. That the government seems prepared to allow councils to increase it, a change many expected in the autumn statement, shows belated pragmatism. Giving councillors the freedom to make the case politically for any rate rise to their […]
This note from the Chief Executive is from our December newsletter. You can read the newsletter in full here and register to receive it straight to your inbox on our homepage. Christmas time is here by golly: disapproval would be folly. Deck the halls with hunks of holly, fill the cup and don’t say when. Kill the turkeys, […]
Responding to the absence of extra funding for social care in the Autumn Statement, Liam Booth-Smith, Chief Executive of Localis said: “Social care’s absence was worrisome, and with the living wage increase helping many care workers (itself a good thing), the financial pressure will increase. I can see how many in local government find this underwhelming […]