The Local Authority Podcast

Continually looking for savings and efficiencies in the quest to balance the books has become a way of life for local authorities. But striking the balance between achieving savings in the short term without storing up more problems for the future is challenging and can require political and managerial bravery.

In this episode of The Local Authority LGC, in association with Impower, explores what good savings look like and how councils can deliver more of them.

LGC editor Sarah Calkin is joined by:

• Martin Reeves, chief executive, Oxfordshire CC

BONUS: This episode is from the LGC Investment Series Podcast which brings you exclusive content from our LGPS focused event series.

In this episode, deputy editor of Local Government Chronicle Martin George is joined by is Phil Triggs, Tri-Borough Director of Treasury and Pensions at Westminster City Council, and Jo Donnelly, Secretary to the Scheme Advisory Board.

The group discuss what the landslide Labour general election of 2024 means for the LGPS.

To find out more about the event, sponsorship, or attendance, visit 

For news, features and events regarding the LGPS visit: https://lgcplus.com/investment

Normal episodes of The Local Authority will resume soon. We hope you enjoy this bonus episode.

Last week Labour won the general election and a new government is in place. To discuss what this might mean for local government, including devolution, council funding and planning reform, LGC editor Sarah Calkin is joined by an expert panel:

• Charlotte Alldritt, founder and former chief executive of the Centre for Progressive Policy and political advisor to Lord Sainsbury

Home to school transport has become an increasing pressure on council budgets as a combination of increases in demand from pupils with special educational needs and a lack of supply push up  costs.

In this episode of The Local Authority, LGC in association with Qroutes, would like to explore how councils can reduce costs whilst ensuring children receive the education they need. What is the role of schools? How can parental expectations be managed? Should services be means tested?

LGC editor Sarah Calkin is joined by:

• Roger Gough, leader of Kent CC and children’s services spokesperson for the County Councils Network

Support for this episode comes from QRoutes. QRoutes creates routing optimisation software that helps local authorities address their special educational needs  transport challenges. Their technology helps school transport planners deliver tailored and empathetic services that cut carbon and cost less.

Find out more at: qroutes.co.uk

It's 3pm on 03 May, and the local election count is on. In the LGC news room for this special Local Authority episode, LGC deputy editor Martin George is joined by editor Sarah Calkin and reporter Caitlin Webb to talk all things results: what do we know so far, what trends are at play and what local issues have been influencing results? Which are the counts particularly worth focusing on as we continue into the weekend, and have there been any surprises so far?

Find out more about sponsoring an episode of The Local Authority by downloading a copy of the media pack here, or emailing [email protected]. 

The local elections are just around the corner, with everyone in England and Wales able to vote in either council, metro mayor or police and crime commissioner elections, or a combination of the three.

With the Conservatives behind in national polling, the increasing importance of independent candidates, and some bellwether mayoral and council contests taking place on 2 May, there is a lot to talk about.

In this special Local Authority episode, LGC deputy editor Martin George is joined by editor Sarah Calkin and head of news Kirsty Weakley to discuss all this and more. The trio are joined by elections expert Colin Rallings who explains why he thinks the Tories could lose up to 500 seats, and by Andrew Carter, chief executive of Centre for Cities, to talk about its recent polling about the metro mayors.

Find out more about sponsoring an episode of The Local Authority by downloading a copy of the media pack here, or emailing [email protected]. 

Councils are increasingly recognising the value of involving communities in the design of services meanwhile financial pressures have seen the delivery of services such as libraries outsourced to community groups. And though new technology has provided more ways for councils to engage with their residents and businesses, misinformation through social media platforms can often undermine trust. 

In this episode of The Local Authority we explore what the relationship between councils and their communities should look like and how councils can build trust and democratic engagement.  

LGC editor Sarah Calkin is joined by: 

• Elizabeth Campbell (Con), leader of Kensington & Chelsea RBC  

Find out more about sponsoring an episode of The Local Authority here: https://lgcplus.com/podcast

Children’s services are frequently cited as the biggest current pressure on council budgets, with costs having spiralled in recent years. But despite huge increases in spending there is concern children are often not getting the care and support they need, with shortages of placements meaning young people can often find themselves placed many miles away from the people and places they know. Furthermore placements are increasingly being provided in facilities run by private equity backed firms, sparking concerns of excessive profit making.

In this episode of The Local Authority, the podcast from Local Government Chronicle, we explore what has gone wrong and what needs to happen to fix a broken system.

LGC editor Sarah Calkin is joined by:

• Louise Gittins (Lab), chair of the LGA children and young people’s board and leader of Cheshire West & Chester Council

The UK is one of the most centralised countries in the world and local authorities enjoy few revenue raising powers when compared with their counterparts in other developed nations. In recent years calls have been growing for local authorities to be given the power to set new taxes or take control of elements of the existing tax base. However, central government has so far resisted these calls.

In this episode of The Local Authority, the podcast from Local Government Chronicle, we want to explore the arguments for fiscal devolution, what that could look like in practice and why it is being met with resistance.

Joining Sarah Calkin this month is Jamie Driscoll, metro mayor of the North of Tyne Combined Authority; Jessica Studdert, deputy chief executive of New Local and Ross Mudie, research analyst at The Centre for Progressive Policy. 

Available on all streaming services now!

Spiralling inflation has pushed up the cost of borrowing while the high-profile failure of some councils that took on large amounts of debt has increased scrutiny of council investments. In this episode of The Local Authority, the podcast from Local Government Chronicle, we want to explore how councils are approaching funding of regeneration in this environment and whether attitudes to commercialisation in local government have changed. Joining Sarah Calkin this month is Sarah Norman, chief executive at Barnsley MBC; Rob Whiteman, chief executive at CIPFA and Tracy Bingham, strategic director (corporate resources) at South Derbyshire DC.  The episode is available for streaming on all podcast platforms now.