The last nine months of Covid-19 induced lockdowns has served as a stress test without parallel for our social infrastructure and fabric. We have learned the limits and extent of the central state’s ability to command and control from Whitehall and the inner-resilience and capacity of the local and hyperlocal to persevere and intuitively innovate on the ground – in many cases […]
We have reached a low watermark for political support for councils investing resources in assets or activities that deliver revenue streams to fund vital local public services. Among stand out exemplars of unwise behaviour, poster boys for commercialism gone bad, we can number Spelthorne Borough Council’s billions of PWLB borrowing to invest in its economic […]
Although the Covid-19 pandemic continues to rage across the globe stalling economies, incomes and mobility the crisis provides a chance to re-evaluate and re-imagine our collective future. Despite profound uncertainty about both the course of the pandemic and its long-term ramifications for society, decisions are being taken to address the national social and economic impacts […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has proven the resilience and strength of England’s local government in keeping our communities safe. Equally, the ongoing socio-economic consequences demonstrate the need for strong place-based leadership and governance at the right level to help our recovery. This is especially true for Oxford, one of our country’s leading cities and one that […]
Writing in 1912, Hilaire Belloc warned: “change your hearts or you will lose your inns and you will deserve to have lost them”. Should such a calamity unfold, Belloc added that “you will have lost the last of England”. The Power of Pubs looks at the attempts made in 2020 by the UK government to […]
A range of national bodies worked together to enhance councils’ understanding of how they can diagnose and reduce the risk of failure in corporate governance, and what success factors can point the way to greater strength in this area. Research was led by the Centre for Public Scrutiny assisted by Localis, and funded by a consortium of […]
In previous years, when it came to criminal activity there was very little support available for businesses. The common view the business community was often that the police treated this as a victimless crime – so it wasn’t, in consequence, seen as a priority. In seeking to change this situation and address the underlying causes, […]
The effects of lockdown and the massive strain placed on public services throughout 2020 have led to a renewed focus on local response, on the resilience and ingenuity displayed on a volunteer basis across the country. However, communities in England, particularly those in deprived areas, face a multitude of challenges to and restrictions upon their […]
From the crises in elderly care and youth crime to the desperate challenge of building enough homes across the country, the need to properly fund, so as to properly deliver valued local services and infrastructure has never been clearer to the public. In this environment, the case for giving our local authorities greater powers to […]
In this essay collection Localis sets, in addition to its own analysis, twenty separate views from a wide range of individual experts and sector leading organisations asking how we might use the primacy of place to direct a return to housing growth, and with it, renewal as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. In our […]