Responding to the Autumn Statement’s housing announcements, Liam Booth-Smith, Chief Executive of Localis, said: “The £1.4bn injection into the Affordable Homes Programme is good news. Housing associations, developers and councils will be able to bid for a larger pot of money to fund new affordable housing. Whilst the cash figure will get the headline, the […]
Following on from Prime Minister Theresa May’s speech on her government’s Industrial Strategy today (21 November 2016), the localism think tank Localis is launching its latest major research project The Making of an Industrial Strategy. To support this research Localis will be issuing a national call for evidence and liaising with a range of local […]
In support of our new report, Power Behind The Home, Localis research fellow and report author Jack Airey writes on how devolution could halt the declining numbers of council homes. Since 1994, the number of homes owned by local authorities has more than halved to 1.6 million. Over the same period England’s population has increased […]
In support of our new report, Power Behind The Home, Localis research fellow and report author Jack Airey writes on why the Government should reform the Starter Homes scheme to be more locally-flexible. What makes a house affordable? When it comes to first time buyers, the drivers of their answers to this question will likely […]
A new report (link) by the think tank Localis argues that to meet the needs of those families ‘just managing’, the Government must free up local authorities to take more decisions on how and where housing can be delivered. The report, Power Behind the Home: Why devolving housing powers will build more homes, argues that only […]
Writing in the MJ, Liam Booth-Smith reflects on our recent report, A New Public Service Ethos, asking if the ‘public sector ethos’ is in fact a myth. You can read the piece here or below. Our new Localis report, A New Public Service Ethos, is a postcard from the public sector, sharing its feelings on […]
Notions of the ‘public service ethos’ have been in place since the formation of the civil service, which established an ethical framework based on impartiality, political neutrality and the pursuit of the public interest, with new civil servants expected to adhere to four core values: integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality/ selflessness. These principles were codified […]
The ‘public service ethos’ is meant to be a defined set of principles or values that all public servants adhere to when performing their duties to the public. The findings of our new report A New Public Service Ethos reveal that there is a general consensus amongst public sector workers about the characteristics that make […]
Tight public finances and rising demand are putting increasing pressure on public services. Creating sustainable public services will rely in part on the public sector’s ability to make them more efficient and deliver more for less. Making public services more efficient and productive at a time of financial constraint was a key part of the […]
Public private collaboration is big business. Gone wrong it’s big news. In local government, the amount of total procurement spending going to third parties rose from £27.2 million (44 percent) in 2009/10 to £30.2 million (49 percent) in 2013-14. Beyond outsourcing, councils’ collaboration with the private sector is much broader, from appointing external auditors, lawyers, […]