How Burnham can protect devo An excellent LGC article by my colleague Jonathan Davies. www.lgcplus.com/politics/dev... @sarahcalkin.bsky.social

As Burnham looks to devolve funding and power, our new analysis shows how UK councils compare internationally. We find they have comparatively low expenditure, small locally attributed tax revenue and medium-low institutional autonomy. There is a long way to go! inlogov.com/2026/07/31/h...

How constrained is UK local government? International evidence on spending, taxation and autonomy

Paul Joyce, Jason Lowther, Philip Whiteman What place does local government occupy within the UK system of public governance? International evidence suggests that UK local government combines three…

inlogov.com

Burnham said devo changes “increase the case . . . for a written constitution... There is a case for a new clear set of principles about how this country should be run.” We agree, here are some key ideas in Jonathan's recent paper: epapers.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/4...

Do female mayors make local government more transparent? Miguel Rodrigues and colleagues examine whether female leadership changes how much information municipalities actively disclose to their citizens, in a new article in our Local Government Studies journal. inlogov.com/2026/07/28/d...

Do female mayors make local government more transparent? Only when politics lets them

Bruna Ribeiro (University of Minho), Miguel Rodrigues (University of Minho) and Francisca Tejedo-Romero (University of Castilla-La Mancha) Why do some municipalities open their books, publish their…

inlogov.com

Great to see today's Local Government Chronicle piece by @sbussu.bsky.social on "Creating conditions for double devo" "a more mature model of both local-level community and central-local relations is required, one based ... on trust, autonomy and accountability." www.lgcplus.com/politics/dev...

Sonia Bussu: Creating conditions for double devo

A model based less on control and compliance and more on trust, autonomy and accountability is needed, writes an associate professor in public policy at

lgcplus.com

THE PARTICIPATORY PARTY Reflecting on our new policy paper, The Participatory Council by @sbussu.bsky.social, Phil Swann argues that political parties must also be engaged in participatory processes. inlogov.com/2026/07/21/t...

The Participatory Party

Phil Swann The urgency of Sonia Busso’s call for councils to develop participatory governance arrangements is evident in her recent INLOGOV policy paper[1], The Participatory Council. Bussu recogni…

inlogov.com

A very thoughtful and thorough assessment of options for fiscal devolution from the APPG files.localgov.co.uk/appg_6391962...

STICKY DEVOLUTION Completing our quartet of new policy papers this week, Prof Jonathan Davies analyses how supporters of devolution could work to make it more difficult for future governments to reverse the progress made. epapers.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/4...

THE PARTICIPATORY COUNCIL Inlogov's new report on how councils can make effective use of innovative participatory approaches is available now on our stand (P33) at #LGAConf26 Or download a copy from: epapers.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/4...

CHALLENGER PARTIES IN POWER LOCALLY What happens when parties new to government win control of councils? We looked at >20 Reform and Green councils to find out. Pick up a free copy of our report on stand P33 at #LGAConf26 or download a copy. epapers.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/4...

PAYING FOR DEMOCRACY Our new report on councillor allowances out today and launched at #LGAConf26 Is the current system really fair and fit for purpose? Or do we need change to acknowledge the often full-time strategic work councillors now do? epapers.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/4...

Looking forward to lots of discussion and catch ups at #LGAConf26 this week. We're at stand P33 in Purbeck Hall - please pop along to say hi! Lots of new research and policy papers to discuss

A brilliantly useful (and typically thoughtful) piece by @barryquirk.bsky.social in the Local Government Chronicle today on "how to speak truth to power" www.lgcplus.com/politics/gov...

Barry Quirk: How to speak truth to power

For council officers, speaking truth to power demands less heroic confrontation than the phrase implies, writes the former chief executive of

lgcplus.com

Young people do not need to be fixed or made “work-ready”. They need systems that recognise their knowledge, respond to their realities, and involve them as partners in shaping policy that affects them. inlogov.com/2026/06/03/f...

From top-down diagnosis to co-design: what youth‑led evidence adds to the Government’s review of Young people and Work

Sonia Bussu The government’s Young People and Work interim report presents a stark diagnosis. Nearly one million young people in the UK are not in education, employment or training (NEET), and the …

inlogov.com

Fascinating and useful insights on "Building Intergovernmental Capability Through Secondments: Lessons From Japan for the UK" in this new briefing from Dr Abigail Taylor, Dr Sara Kaizuka, Jeffrey Matsu and Professor Anne Green lpiphub.bham.ac.uk/building-int...

Excellent analysis of last week's election results from Rallings and Thrasher in the Local Government Chronicle www.lgcplus.com/politics/gov...

Rallings & Thrasher: How Labour fell to historic defeat

Reform almost doubled the number of seats it captured last year while the Green party made a net gain of 440 seats, write psephologists Colin Rallings and

lgcplus.com

As the May 2026 local election results settle, we need to refresh local politics through collaboration with local groups and communities to deliver improvements locally and secure reforms nationally to enable that local action. inlogov.com/2026/05/11/n...

Now is the time to refresh local politics

Photo by Michael D Beckwith on Pexels.com Phil Swann The sad state of many neighbourhoods and communities, with their desolated high streets, has been identified as a significant driver of the reje…

inlogov.com

What Works in Local Growth and Skills? We review recent evaluations which offer a valuable, and still evolving, picture of what is working, what is proving harder, and what local systems actually need to deliver economic outcomes. inlogov.com/2026/05/07/w...

What works in local growth and skills? Learning from recent evaluations

Jason Lowther Following the previous blog on homelessness and rough sleeping, this piece turns to another major area of local government activity: local growth and skills programmes. Here too, eval…

inlogov.com

What works in homelessness and rough sleeping? A raft of recent evaluation reports point to system stability and relational services as keys to tackling these tough policy issues. inlogov.com/2026/04/23/w...

What works in homelessness and rough sleeping

Jason Lowther We’ve just started a new series of Inlogov blogs summarising the growing body of evaluation evidence in local government, and what it tells us about how councils are learning what wor…

inlogov.com

Exploring what it means to be a 21st-century parish and town councillor... www.nalc.gov.uk/resource/nal...

NALC partners with the University of Birmingham to explore what it means to be a 21st-century parish and town councillor

Our latest event explored what it means to be a 21st-century parish and town councillor, reflecting on how the role is evolving amid increasing responsibilities, rising expectations and a changing loc...

nalc.gov.uk

The new Place-Based Budgets are an important opportunity to improve local outcomes, especially if we learn lessons from previous experiences of this type of approach. inlogov.com/2026/03/17/r... @kirstyweakley.bsky.social @local.gov.uk

Rewiring Public Spending: Why Place-Based Budgets Are a Game Changer

Jason Lowther Today’s announcement of five new pilots of place-based budgets is to be welcomed, particularly if we are able to learn the lessons of previous incarnations of this approach. For at le…

inlogov.com

Very excited to see these 24 vacancies in the IMPACT (Improving Adult Social Care) centre for implementing evidence in adult social care impact.bham.ac.uk/our-people/v...

Vacancies - Adult Social Care - Apply Today

IMPACT's vacancies span across the four nations of the UK, as much of our work is based within local organisations.

impact.bham.ac.uk

NALC invites parish and town councillors to shape the future of the 21st-century councillor www.nalc.gov.uk/resource/nal...

NALC invites parish and town councillors to shape the future of the 21st-century councillor

We are calling on parish and town councillors to take part in a major national event examining what it means to be a 21st-century councillor

nalc.gov.uk

What makes a directly elected mayor genuinely accountable to the public? A short report on a recent seminar led by Akinari Takehisa, former mayor of Setouchi City in Japan. inlogov.com/2026/03/02/u...

Understanding Mayoral Accountability: Insights from Japan and the UK

Jason Lowther What makes a directly elected mayor genuinely accountable to the public? How do contrasting political and administrative systems shape the conduct, choices, and leadership styles of t…

inlogov.com

Thanks to Akinari Takehisa for a thought provoking seminar on accountability and city mayors. I was particularly struck by the behavioural attributes identified as facilitating and hindering Political, Hierarchical, Professional, and Legal Accountability. bham.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Page...

Mayors and performance information

bham.cloud.panopto.eu

Our next Inlogov seminar is on the use of performance information in mayoral accountability. Please join us if you can. www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/perfo...

The local government finance settlement was a good start, now we need to tackle council tax inlogov.com/2026/02/17/j...

Job half done, it’s time to tackle council tax

Jason Lowther It’s hard to deny that the local government finance settlement this month marks big achievements for the ‘new’ (now almost two years old) government.  Labour’s manifesto promised…

inlogov.com

This is What Local Government Looks Like – a new 10‑minute film capturing the insights, experiences and reflections of more than 50 people working across the UK local government sector. solace.org.uk/this-is-what...

This is what local government looks like

Solace is proud to launch This is What Local Government Looks Like – a new 10‑minute film capturing the insights, experiences and reflections of more than 50 people working across the UK local governm...

solace.org.uk

Might management apprenticeships be “streamlined” out of existence? Malcolm Press and Ann Francke warn of the economic and labour market impact of any such move wonkhe.com/blogs/cuttin...

Cutting management apprenticeships would set young people up to fail at work

Might management apprenticeships be “streamlined” out of existence? Malcolm Press and Ann Francke warn of the economic and labour market impact of any such move Might management apprenticeships be “st...

wonkhe.com

It's not just Andy Burnham, there has long been a perception of local government as a stepping stone or training ground for national office... Phil Swann writes in the Local Government Chronicle www.lgcplus.com/politics/lgc...

Burnham’s ambitions follow 150-year trend

There has long been a perception of local government as a stepping stone or training ground for national office, writes Phil Swann, a PhD student at Inlogov at the University of Birmingham.

lgcplus.com