Jason Lowther For many researchers and analysts working in local government, evaluation can sometimes feel like yet another additional reporting requirement attached to programme delivery. Yet a se…

Photo credit: Jason Lowther The Electoral Commission’s new report on the 2026 English local government and mayoral elections provides largely positive picture of local democracy. Turnout was …

LARIA AUTUMN WEBINAR SERIES 2026 🍂 #LARIA2026 We are pleased to announce that registration is now open for our next webinar series, packed with fresh insight, practical learning, and sector‑leading...

Claire Dhami I was fortunate enough to attend the Creative Bureaucracy Festival in Berlin this June, bringing together public servants, leaders and practitioners from across the world who are grapp…

Janice Morphet The Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government frequently speaks to the media about the ways in which local authorities are providing more homes…

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…

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…

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

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…

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

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 …

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

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…

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…

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…

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...

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…

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

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

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…

This presentation focuses on a comparative study of mayoral accountability and performance information use in local government.

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…

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...

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...

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.

LARIA's One Day Conference and Awards: Registration now open Wednesday 25 March 2026 Local Government Association 18 Smith Square Westminster London SW1P 3HZ Local Evidence Matters: Understanding Need...

Investing in professional support systems for politicians and public servants is long overdue.

Jason Lowther With dozens of English councils and hundreds of councillors facing delays to this year’s May elections, opponents claim the move could undermine public trust in democracy.  Histo…

YouTube video by Institute for Government

Photo by Michael D Beckwith on Pexels.com Chris Game You may just possibly have seen the recent report: “Oldham councillors must repay overpaid allowances due to payroll error”.  And thought: …

Chris Game One of the almost unavoidable consequences of being comprehensively retired and with any kind of interest in politics is that you find yourself watching more of the Government’s annual, …

Dr. Nicolai De Wulf, Prof. Dr. Joris Voets When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, millions of people fled their homes seeking safety across Europe. In Belgium, cities such as Antwerp, Ghent,…

Garath Symonds When I was asked by the Chief Executive to take over a failing project to create acontact centre for vulnerable residents, I said yes without hesitation. It felt like anopportunity t…

Dr. Nicolai De Wulf, Prof. Dr. Joris Voets When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, millions of people fled their homes seeking safety across Europe. In Belgium, cities such as Antwerp, Ghent,…

Jason Lowther / Paul Joyce / Philip Whiteman The arrival of the new UK government looks set to result in a new policy on central government’s intervention powers in local authorities, the third gen…

YouTube video by Tim Neal