Topic: Local democracy
The material in this section contains information, guidance and commentary about democracy, participation and engagement of the public in local democratic systems. Many authorities are seeking to deepen their approach to new ways of involving local people in decision-making – in part by exploring how these methods can “dock in” to more traditional governance structures.
The reorganisation and devolution agenda also creates an opportunity for local democracy to be strengthened through the creation and development of “hyperlocal” governance systems – both through a bolstering of the power of parish and community councils and by the creation of new locality or area-based systems for new, larger authorities.
How virtual meetings are shaping local democracy
The way councils meet is changing. With the government moving toward legislation that could allow virtual and hybrid meetings, there’s a unique opportunity to modernise local governance—making it more inclusive, accessible, and adaptable to today’s demands.This blog shares our thoughts about how virtual and hybrid council meetings could reshape local governance, offering a practical look at the benefits, challenges, and opportunities ahead.
The Right to Protest vs Acts of Hate: Reflecting on Southport
Mel Stevens, Chief Executive and Antony Mullen, Research and Impact Manager, discuss the fallout from recent riots.
How Open Government can rebuild trust, support reforms, and drive efficiency
Joint letter from the UK Open Government Network, on how open government can build trust, support reforms and drive.
Turn and face the changes
Key messages from Mel Stevens on the governance of public services, as featured in the Municipal Journal.
Public participation par excellence
Ideas to increase the reach of scrutiny activities and increase public engagement.
Long read: the English Devolution Accountability Framework
First thoughts on the English Devolution Accountability Framework.
Council size changes: learning lessons from submissions and implementation
Research on the process electoral review in England, 2022.
Scrutiny and the cost of living
Although the cost of living crisis is dominating political conversation this week – especially in light of the rise of the energy price cap – for us in local government this is a crisis that has been going on for years now. For more than a decade councils have had to grapple with the challenges […]
Electoral reviews: offering support
Before the pandemic, we and the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) embarked on a project looking at the way that councils (and councillors) engage with electoral reviews. This project is now concluding – it will result in the publication of our research, and amendments by the LGBCE to their guidance to councils on […]
How to write effective survey and research questions
The use of surveys to gather and triangulate evidence for scrutiny reviews is easier, now that we can be more confident that a majority of local people have access to the tools to fill them in online – making the use of hard-copy questionnaires unnecessary other than in situations where scrutiny is keen to gather […]