Every decade or so the Lib Dems find a moral cause to unite around - think Iraq or Brexit. This week they found their cause for the 2020s - fighting Reform. And councils will be a key part of the crusade.
The government is abolishing district councils, where the party traditionally performs best, and creating more metro mayors, which the party has yet to win any of
Advocates of Community Power are now at the centre of government, but it won't be easy to convert Whitehall to this way of working. My briefing following another inspiring #StrongerThings conference from @wearenewlocal.bsky.socialwww.lgcplus.com/politics/lgc...
Interesting: the LGPS Advisory Board expects the Government Actuary's Department "to look closely at [LGPS funds] which are relatively well funded but are also still setting relatively high contribution rates" in its next section 13 report www.lgcplus.com/investment/g...
How is the government changing its Local Government Pension Scheme reform plans?
The Pensions Investment Review's final report reveals the big picture is unchanged - consolidation, powers transferred from funds to pools - but some important details have been tweaked www.lgcplus.com/investment/g...
"The path forward isn't to abandon climate commitments but to implement them more effectively, with greater transparency, early engagement and clearer benefits for ordinary people." www.lgcplus.com/politics/cli...
He cites recent polling showing "the silent majority still backs climate action ... Even among those who voted Reform UK last week, 54% support 'policies to stop climate change and put in place targets ... to keep the UK on track'."
Climate-sceptic Reform surged in the local elections, but @uk100.org chief exec Christopher Hammond says: "This is not a crisis in climate action – it's a manifestation of a deeper crisis in trust in Westminster and our hollowed-out institutions of government" www.lgcplus.com/politics/cli...
Lots of inexperienced, anti-establishment Reform councillors will soon find themselves running complex organisations with big budgets and essential services.
What challenges does this present for councils and for Reform itself? My Local Government Chronicle briefing www.lgcplus.com/politics/lgc...
The ACCESS pool has questioned the government's reasoning for rejecting its plan to meet the new minimum pooling requirements, and suggested that forcing its partner funds to join another pool could conflict with their fiduciary duty www.lgcplus.com/investment/a...
We are creating fit for purpose audit system to build a strong, stable, and empowered local government to work with us as equal partners to deliver the change the country demands. #localgov READ MORE www.lgcplus.com/finance/jim-...
Ministers are forcing through pool mergers in the Local Government Pension Scheme. They rejected Access and Brunel's plans for their future and want their partner funds to join other pools. Six other pools got the ministerial green light www.lgcplus.com/investment/m...
Councils in the 21 two-tier areas the government has told to reorganise into unitary authorities have come up with more than 50 options for how to do it.
If these areas can't unite around a single plan, they will be handing ministers the power to decide for them www.lgcplus.com/politics/gov...
This year marks 60 years since the creation of London's boroughs under the 1965 London Government Act. From housing to education, these 32 boroughs have shaped the capital's communities.
Here's a snapshot of how councils are celebrating this milestone.
This could be controversial - the government is reviving proposals to make the political affiliation of councillors more obvious in a bid to improve public understanding of local government www.lgcplus.com/politics/gov...
