http://www.lgcplus.com http://www.lgcplus.com http://www.lgcplus.com/magazine/graphics/logo.png http://www.lgcplus.com http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/what-does-a-community-budget-look-like/5048113.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/what-does-a-community-budget-look-like/5048113.blog Much has been written about how ‘whole place’ community budgets are being received in Whitehall. But what does a community budget actually look like? 9 August, 2012 http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/how-to-tell-whos-won-the-local-elections/5043770.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/how-to-tell-whos-won-the-local-elections/5043770.blog My benchmarks to help decipher the post-election spin 12 April, 2012 http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/one-city-deal-many-lessons/5043221.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/one-city-deal-many-lessons/5043221.blog The Budget confounded expectations on city deals. What can we learn from Greater Manchester’s success? 26 March, 2012 http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/no-love-lost-on-council-tax/5041884.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/no-love-lost-on-council-tax/5041884.blog Ministers’ conduct over councils’ decision on whether or not to put up council tax has been shabby - my lead article from last week’s magazine 23 February, 2012 http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/history-of-the-chiefless-council/5041340.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/history-of-the-chiefless-council/5041340.blog My column from this week’s magazine feature on councils that have done away with - and then reinstated - the role of chief executive 9 February, 2012 http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/community-budgets-a-reason-to-be-cheerful/5040122.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/community-budgets-a-reason-to-be-cheerful/5040122.blog Local government has plenty to be negative about as it enters 2012. But the ambition of the community budget pilots is outstripping that of the government. 12 January, 2012 http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/a-busy-end-to-the-year/5039060.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/a-busy-end-to-the-year/5039060.blog My leader column from this week’s magazine - Community Budgets and City Deals 8 December, 2011 http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/treading-a-fine-line/5038747.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/treading-a-fine-line/5038747.blog With further cuts heading local government’s way, perhaps it’s time for the sector to rethink its lobbying strategies - my leading article on the autumn statement from this week’s magazine 2 December, 2011 http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/riots-the-interim-report/5038660.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/riots-the-interim-report/5038660.blog My LGC View column from this week’s magazine feature on the interim report of Darra Singh’s Riots, Communities & Victims panel 1 December, 2011 http://www.lgcplus.com/has-total-place-set-local-government-back-years/5038121.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/has-total-place-set-local-government-back-years/5038121.blog Councils do themselves no favours with ministers if they appear to want to build up powerful ‘municipal states’ 18 November, 2011 http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/the-new-pragmatism/5035759.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/the-new-pragmatism/5035759.blog The government’s mantra of ‘localism, localism, localism’ has been usurped by a renewed focus on economic growth, social cohesion and public service reform 29 September, 2011 http://www.lgcplus.com/briefings/corporate-core/comms/no-such-thing-as-bad-publicity/5025666.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/briefings/corporate-core/comms/no-such-thing-as-bad-publicity/5025666.blog Revealed: How the government has squared its “North Korean” publicity code with its localist principles 14 February, 2011 http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/eric-tom-tom-pickles/5023428.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/eric-tom-tom-pickles/5023428.blog Councils should think twice before heeding the guidance of a secretary of state reading from a dodgy road map 22 December, 2010 http://www.lgcplus.com/shakespeare-in-the-cherry-orchards/5023046.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/shakespeare-in-the-cherry-orchards/5023046.blog The Localism Bill and the finance settlement are today’s stories. But the debate will soon turn to business rates. 13 December, 2010 http://www.lgcplus.com/lga-fighting-on-two-fronts/5022657.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/lga-fighting-on-two-fronts/5022657.blog The Local Government Association is not standing up well in comparison to other lobbying organisations in the sector 1 December, 2010 http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/audit-threat-to-big-society-bodies/5022460.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/audit-threat-to-big-society-bodies/5022460.blog Could the abolition of the Audit Commission hit town and parish councils? 26 November, 2010 http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/eric-pickles-nifty-footwork/5019683.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/eric-pickles-nifty-footwork/5019683.blog Some post-pub speculation on DCLG cuts and Eric Pickles’ nimble work 24 September, 2010 http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/why-one-size-sometimes-fits-all/5019647.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/why-one-size-sometimes-fits-all/5019647.blog The new government’s approach to transparency requires common data standards 23 September, 2010 http://www.lgcplus.com/the-biggest-couch-potato-of-them-all/5018524.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/the-biggest-couch-potato-of-them-all/5018524.blog Any “army of armchair auditors” will be dominated by the biggest couch potato of them all - the TaxPayers’ Alliance 23 August, 2010 http://www.lgcplus.com/lets-all-move-to-brazil/5011107.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/lets-all-move-to-brazil/5011107.blog Lessons on how to get voters to the polling station from Brazil 3 February, 2010 http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/council-tax-revaluation/5010496.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/council-tax-revaluation/5010496.blog An interesting blog from ‘The Local Government Officer’ 18 January, 2010 http://www.lgcplus.com/the-decline-in-party-membership-local-perspectives/5010475.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/the-decline-in-party-membership-local-perspectives/5010475.blog Data on the decline in membership of political parties has some interesting implications for localism 18 January, 2010 http://www.lgcplus.com/a-blooper-from-sir-simon/5010170.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/a-blooper-from-sir-simon/5010170.blog Has there been a potentially revealing slip of the tongue about how long Boris Johnson plans to hang around City Hall? 7 January, 2010 http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/the-politics-of-grit/5010086.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/the-politics-of-grit/5010086.blog Heavy snowfall should offer councillors and opportunity to connect with local residents 6 January, 2010 http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/denhams-dramatic-vision-for-local-government/5004714.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/denhams-dramatic-vision-for-local-government/5004714.blog In trumpeting local government’s role in scrutinising the provision of all public services, John Denham conjures images of hit US TV drama ‘The Wire’. 2 August, 2009 http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/two-tier-attack-could-be-sign-of-times-to-come/5004856.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/two-tier-attack-could-be-sign-of-times-to-come/5004856.blog Could we now be seeing the first signs of the Department for Communities & Local Government’s preparations for swingeing funding cuts? 5 August, 2009 http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/labour-leader-slams-browns-tactics/5004132.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/blogs/labour-leader-slams-browns-tactics/5004132.blog A Leadership Centre debate saw the leader of a flagship Labour council hit out at Gordon Brown’s insistence that public spending will continue to rise after the election. 16 July, 2009 http://www.lgcplus.com/lga-conference-day-two/5003531.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/lga-conference-day-two/5003531.blog Dan Drillsma-Milgrom’s second day musings from the Local Government Association annual conference 1 July, 2009 http://www.lgcplus.com/lga-conference-day-one/5003475.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/lga-conference-day-one/5003475.blog LGC’s political editor Dan Drillsman-Milgrom looks back at the first day of the LGA conference in Harrogate 30 June, 2009 http://www.lgcplus.com/bundred-weighs-in-on-spending-cuts/5003474.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/bundred-weighs-in-on-spending-cuts/5003474.blog The chief executive of the government’s public services watchdog warns against protecting health and education budgets 30 June, 2009 http://www.lgcplus.com/shakespeares-words-make-lgas-silence-deafening/5003227.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/shakespeares-words-make-lgas-silence-deafening/5003227.blog Comments from the leader of the Conservative group on the Local Government Association on the cabinet reshuffle inadvertently draws attention to the lack of a unified response from the LGA itself 25 June, 2009 http://www.lgcplus.com/lessons-from-canada-1/5003132.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/lessons-from-canada-1/5003132.blog How Canada tackled a crisis in its public finances similar to ours. Just in case you missed it the first time. 23 June, 2009 http://www.lgcplus.com/an-own-goal-by-the-lga/5002851.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/an-own-goal-by-the-lga/5002851.blog Anything less than full disclosure will be seized upon as evidence of secrecy, as the Local Government Association is discovering. 16 June, 2009 http://www.lgcplus.com/local-election-fallout/5002770.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/local-election-fallout/5002770.blog Were Labour’s abysmal local election results the fault of the party’s councillors or MPs? 12 June, 2009 http://www.lgcplus.com/chief-execs-hamstrung-when-thrust-into-the-spotlight/5002516.blog http://www.lgcplus.com/chief-execs-hamstrung-when-thrust-into-the-spotlight/5002516.blog Announcing election results will usually be the only time they appear on live TV for council chief executives. What a shame their other responsibilities don’t get the same coverage. 8 June, 2009