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It’s been a busy week for local government - and therefore it’s been busy for the Local Government Chronicle.

For those who don’t know, the magazine is available from Thursday mornings but there is a print deadline of Tuesday night.

So when the CAA results and Alistair Darling’s Pre-Budget report both happen on a Wednesday, you can imagine how hard it is to produce something meaningful within the constraints LGC’s deadlines.

That’s the skill of my magazine colleagues.

In recent times, they’ve also had to contribute to what LGC does online: users wanted to know what the Audit Commission - and others - were saying from Wednesday morning.

Users wanted to know what the Chancellor said by the time they were having their mid-afternoon cuppa.

That’s also down to the skill of my magazine colleagues who have to adopt something of a Jeckyll and Hyde role: instant reaction and measured, in-depth response in tandem.

I’ll come back to the top stories of the year in a future blog but they are dominated by our reports on assessment.

It’s stats such as these which provide great editorial feedback for those working online - and on the magazine.

User comments, too, provide useful insight on the topics we report - sometimes informing a report in the magazine as it is being prepared.