Truth about Local Government

.It was great to sit down with Mark Fowler the Deputy Chief Executive, Corporate Director of Community Wellbeing of Luton Borough Council. We explored Mark's career, how Luton is continually evolving to improves outcomes for residents and his views on how on a national scale improvements can be made in the sector.

Today Nigel Wilcock, Executive Director of the Institute of Economic Development discussed:

• What, in a nutshell, is economic development?
• What role do Local Authorities play in economic development?
• Do all Local Authorities approach this in the same way?
• What happens if this work isn’t completed?
• Is this relevant to the lives of local residents?
• What are we likely to see after the next election?

Booking is now open for the 2023 Institute of Economic Development Annual Conference and Awards Dinner, as the organisation’s 40th anniversary celebrations get into full swing.The IED Annual Conference, which will be held at the Park Regis Birmingham on 7th November, is themed Grow for Good? Reappraising the UK's Growth Objectives. Workshops and presentations will focus on related topics including Town Centres, Inclusive Growth, Skills and Fair Employment, Housing, Economic Regeneration and Health & Wellbeing. To find out more and book your place, visit the conference website here.

.Great to sit down with Nick Cummings, former Interim Head of Assets for Spelthorne Borough Council. We discussed how to maximise regeneration and development opportunities on commercial and residential developments and regeneration. A key aspect of this is the engagement of risk when partnering with the private sector.

On todays episode we explored Hammersmith and Fulham's approach to tackling the climate crisis. This topic was structured into three areas.1. Embedding climate change in everything we do2. How we engage and inspire climate action in H&F3. The challenge of implementing our action plan, the role of LAs and the opportunities

Great to sit down with Dave Briggs - Interim Director of Digital and ICT Services. We discussed How strategy, structure and programs can help deliver cost savings and transformation of processes, providing the best outcomes for consumers and external stakeholders, This was broken down into:

• Agree your vision (goals, principles, areas of focus etc. What is it you actually want to achieve?)
• Structure your team (which skills and roles do you need to have within your structure, what compromises might smaller organisations have to make, etc)
• Make things happen (discovering work, prioritising work, putting foundations in place, funding, etc)

James Lazarus is a highly successful development and regeneration specialist who has worked in the private and third sector, before recently transitioning into local government. We explored how partnerships and leverage drive the realisation of value in development schemes. James goes onto explain, that this means organisations with the assets typically land owners, using partners typically from the Private sector to bring in the appropriate resources: particularly expertise, finance and people who will probably have a different skills and mind set from those in the landowning entity. Commonly, these will be Local Authorities although this was also a model that CRT, a charity have followed successfully. Other benefits including mitigating risk. I use the very simple analogy” is it better to have the whole of five or half of ten”. I would argue the latter because if something goes wrong your exposure is less.

Sitting down with Tom Riordan, Chief Executive of Leeds City Council, the second largest unitary council in the UK, we explored local government's role in the present and what it may be in the future. As it currently stands local government funding does not match the role that it does. Key takeaways from Tom:

• We need a white paper on local government
• Business rates need to be examined far more frequently
• There needs to be clarity on the role of local government and how that works with other organisation responsibilities.
• We need reform of the finance system.
• Place needs to become a statutory responsibility to see economic growth and regeneration prioritised.

Sitting down with Tom Riordan, Chief Executive of Leeds City Council, the second largest unitary council in the UK, we explored local government's role in the present and what it may be in the future. As it currently stands local government funding does not match the role that it does. Key takeaways from Tom:

• We need a white paper on local government
• Business rates need to be examined far more frequently
• There needs to be clarity on the role of local government and how that works with other organisation responsibilities.
• We need reform of the finance system.
• Place needs to become a statutory responsibility to see economic growth and regeneration prioritised.

It was great to sit down with Jamie Groves and to talk how leisure services being outsourced to a LATCO, Denbighshire Leisure Ltd has improved leisure facilities significantly in Denbighshire, thanks to Alliance Leisure.. We explored the leisure framework and the benefits that this new framework has. The question for local authorities is whether right now is the time to insource, is their the skills and resource to make this a cost effective and fundamentally viable internal leisure function. Or, is the leisure framework a way to help promote your economy, health and infrastructure for the community. Contact John Leaver for more information on the framework and what it can do for your council. [email protected]

Valentines Lido will be a breathtaking new lido in the hart of Valentines park. It is just one example of how the London Borough of Redbridge is delivering on its pledge to make Redbridge a place for everyone. Mark Baigent, Corporate Director of Regeneration and Culture gives me a tour as to the other achievements and discusses how the council is delivering so many fantastic schemes and truly engaging with the public at every stage. Cllr Kam Rai, Deputy Leader of Redbridge Council and Cabinet Member for Finance and Regeneration said “Our borough is a great place to live, work, and visit, and we’re continuing to invest in leisure facilities so local families and visitors can access everything they need right on our doorstep.The new lido will provide a sustainable, fun, and social place for people to exercise in the great outdoors, while boosting our local economy and restoring the heritage of Valentines Park. As well as a new swimming pool, we’re proposing to create a splashpad for children, a café, a gym, and studio space so Valentines Park can become a hub for our local communities to meet, exercise and enjoy.”https://engage.redbridge.gov.uk/valentines-lido