Category: Blog
Good governance in fire and rescue: the ‘professional partnership’ between elected members and senior officers
As a former Chief Fire Officer, I was delighted when an invitation arrived from the LGA for me to deliver a series of workshops on good governance at its recent annual Fire Conference in Gateshead. The theme for the conference was: Delivering transformation in the fire and rescue sector. Now, as the Chief Executive of […]
Standing, and standing down
In 2019 and 2021 we experienced some comparatively high “councillor turnover” – and we can probably expect similar in local elections this May. The neutral phrase “councillor turnover” hides a large number of personal stories and experiences of those councillors who will, for whatever reason, not be councillors after the forthcoming election. Councillors stop being […]
Update on the Health and Care Bill
The Health and Care Bill continues on its progress through the House of Lords. A number of partners have come together to support amendments which now seek to remove entirely the Secretary of State’s powers to intervene proactively in local health services (for full details of these plans, read our explainer on the subject from […]
Update on the health and social care integration white paper
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) have recently published their proposals for the health and care integration white paper, ‘Joining up care for people, places, and populations’. The white paper aims to provide improved, joined-up health and care services at a ‘local’ level across primary care, adult social care, acute mental health, community […]
Behavioural issues in meetings: what can we learn?
Today (28 February) we published guidance for councils in England on new approaches to hybrid meetings. This guidance focuses on matters relating to behaviours and attitudes, reflecting on lessons learned during the pandemic and seeking to apply those lessons to a world where hybrid formats may, in due course, form one of the ways in […]
The Levelling Up White Paper: what’s inside?
Here, you can read our detailed paper setting out the key elements of the White Paper, published in early February 2022. This blog aims to make some more general reflections. It is fair to say that initial opinion on the White Paper has been mixed. There is from some quarters a degree of disappointment – […]
Busy and exciting times ahead for CfGS
As I begin my second day in the role of Chief Executive at CfGS, I look forward to busy and exciting times ahead. During a period when organisations across all sectors are attempting to deal with unprecedented levels of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity – along with pressure to operate more ethically and transparently – […]
What kind of democracy do we really want?
At the time of writing we are in the midst of the political furore over allegations of parties held in Downing Street during lockdown. Far from being trivial, this is a matter which speaks to what democracy is, and what we expect of those who represent us. We still, hopefully, expect those who represent us […]
Council action on the climate emergency
We’ve produced material on the climate emergency before – we published a blog on how scrutiny could approach the issue in 2019, and in July last year we published a longer guide setting out 10 questions to ask if you’re scrutinising your council’s action on the issue. With COP26 drawing to a close in Glasgow […]
HCLG Committee publishes report on progress on English devolution
On 1 October, the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee of the House of Commons published its long-awaited report on the progress of English devolution (long-awaited because the inquiry began in July 2019, and was then delayed first by the General Election and then by the pandemic). The report is generally positive about the […]