The Local Authority Podcast

Apr 02 2024 36

The Local Authority is a podcast by Local Government Chronicle. Each month, the podcast will ask fundamental questions about how local government needs to adapt to fulfil its full potential and best serve local populations. It will see LGC assemble a small panel of significant figures from the sector to discuss one specific issue per episode. All will have a focus on the future, with the emphasis being on innovation, fairness, policy change and place leadership. Between launch in May 2021 and June 2023 the podcast was sponsored by TPXImpact.

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Local elections special: Colin Rallings on why Tories could lose half the seats they are defending. Also, do people care about mayors?

Apr 02 2024 43 mins

The local elections are just around the corner, with everyone in England and Wales able to vote in either council, metro mayor or police and crime commissioner elections, or a combination of the three. With the Conservatives behind in national polling, the increasing importance of independent candidates, and some bellwether mayoral and council contests taking place on 2 May, there

Community involvement, social media and misinformation, and are residents customers? With Elizabeth Campbell, Tracey Lee, and Adam Lent

Mar 19 2024 45 mins

Councils are increasingly recognising the value of involving communities in the design of services meanwhile financial pressures have seen the delivery of services such as libraries outsourced to community groups. And though new technology has provided more ways for councils to engage with their residents and businesses, misinformation through social media platforms can often under

The crisis in children’s services with Louise Gittins, Josh MacAlister, and Andy Smith

Feb 20 2024 46 mins

Children’s services are frequently cited as the biggest current pressure on council budgets, with costs having spiralled in recent years. But despite huge increases in spending there is concern children are often not getting the care and support they need, with shortages of placements meaning young people can often find themselves placed many miles away from the people and places

Fiscal devolution with Jamie Driscoll, Jessica Studdert and Ross Mudie

Nov 14 2023 51 mins

The UK is one of the most centralised countries in the world and local authorities enjoy few revenue raising powers when compared with their counterparts in other developed nations. In recent years calls have been growing for local authorities to be given the power to set new taxes or take control of elements of the existing tax base. However, central government has so far resisted

Borrowing and investment: balancing risk and ambition with Sarah Norman, Tracy Bingham and Rob Whiteman

Sep 26 2023 44 mins

Spiralling inflation has pushed up the cost of borrowing while the high-profile failure of some councils that took on large amounts of debt has increased scrutiny of council investments. In this episode of The Local Authority, the podcast from Local Government Chronicle, we want to explore how councils are approaching funding of regeneration in this environment and whether attitude

Mayor or no mayor with Carolyn Wilkins, Anna Smith and Paul Swinney

Aug 29 2023 39 mins

For the past decade, the government’s preferred model of devolution has been to combined authorities with directly elected mayors. However, more than five years on from the election of the first metro mayors, there is ongoing resistance from councils to adopting this model. In this episode of The Local Authority, a podcast from Local Government Chronicle, we explore what is behin

Into the chamber – working in a political environment, with Joanne Roney, Bruce McDonald and Deborah Evans

Aug 01 2023 50 mins

Many officers start their careers as specialists in their field, such as finance, law, social care or planning, but the nature of their job changes as they are promoted to roles that see them working closely with elected politicians and facing public scrutiny. In this episode of The Local Authority, a podcast from Local Government Chronicle, we explore how the sector can better sup

Supporting new councillors and hung councils with William Benson, Cllr Liz Leffman and Cllr Abi Brown

Jun 29 2023 43 mins

May’s elections saw more than 80 councils change political control with an increase in the number of councils under no overall control. Often this can mean the councillors involved in forming an administration are doing so for the first time; sometimes they can also be relatively new councillors who are still getting to grips with how the council works or forming a coalition with

Budgeting in uncertain times with Patrick Melia, Cllr Peter Marland and Joanne Pitt

Apr 11 2023 46 mins

For the fourth year in a row the government has handed councils a single year finance settlement, albeit with some indication of what to expect for the following year. After more than a decade of funding restraint and in the face of high inflation, the uncertainty of single year budgets adds to councils’ challenges in planning services. In this episode of The Local Authority, LGC

Turning around troubled councils with Joanna Killian, Cllr Graham Chapman, Tony McArdle and Paul Frainer

Mar 14 2023 50 mins

More councils are struggling than ever before: in the past two years eight councils have been subject to formal government intervention or only narrowly avoided it, compared to five in the 12 years prior to that. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities recently advertised for inspectors and commissioners, suggesting there may be more interventions to come. In this ep

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