Welcome to the June edition of Local Government Matters.
We are delighted to be working with CfGS again after the success of our Good Governance Toolkit (also featured below). The new white paper forms part of our continued campaign examining the good characteristics of successful devolution - which also includes a webinar (see below) with Localis on how devolution and combined authorities can (and are) transforming public service delivery with their local authority partners.
This month we also feature our articles from the MJ on devolution and the risks for local authority members and officers from building safety offences, as well as updates relating to procurement, cyber and environmental matters in the local government sector.
We have included an on-demand recording of our webinar with KPMG on the issues impacting the leisure sector as well as a recording of our recent Regeneration Masterclass - including details of upcoming sessions of this well-received series.
As a firm we have been celebrating PRIDE month and are gearing up for South Asian Heritage Month in July where Amardeep will be talking about his heritage and how it has defined him. As we celebrate the uniqueness we all possess, we also take time to reflect on all that binds us in a common purpose - including our commitment to see the local government sector continue to shine. In this regard we were delighted to recently attend both the LGC and MJ Awards to see excellence in the sector celebrated and rewarded - as it rightfully deserves to be!
List of articles:
White paper: Devolution and good mayoral governance
We are delighted to publish this paper with the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny (CfGS) which explores the subject of directly elected Mayors in English (DEMs) local government, and as a feature of English combined authorities.
T&H and Localis Webinar: Combined Talent | devolution and changes to the landscape for public service delivery
This webinar asked how successful combined authorities have been in improving public service delivery, both from a resident and local authority perspective, as well as considering what the impact might be on the service delivery of councils left outside of combined authorities.
The MJ Article - Time for curiosity on compliance
The Grenfell Tower tragedy has been the catalyst for significant changes to the regime underpinning the safety of high rise residential buildings (HRBs).
Do you know what your council is doing to ready itself for compliance with the new regime? If you don’t then you need to find out.
Building Magazine Article - Why are you still participating in the race to the bottom?
Procurement reform and clients who are prepared to use alternative price evaluation models are surely the way to improve the whole process and get the right bidder at the right price for a project, argues Rebecca Rees
The importance of focusing on your culture
In our next Thinking Business publication, Rebecca McGuirk and Danielle Ingham discuss the increasing importance of workplace culture in a market where there is much more demand for talent than supply.
The MJ Article - Combined talents
The dynamic of devolution and centre of gravity for local public service reform is clearly moving through the prism of trailblazing combined authorities.
Unlocking Regeneration - Whose land is it anyway?
Our series of Regeneration Masterclasses continues on the 20th July. The third webinar takes a close look at how you can overcome common issues and pitfalls of land ownership.
Unlocking development potential
The UK is facing a shortage of development sites, with land availability being described as either limited or very limited. This shortage of development land, combined with developers' ambitions to meet the government's housebuilding target to address the chronic undersupply of housing, have led to continued growth in land values. There are a number of ways for landowners and developers to work together. Here are common examples of structures which can unlock these potential development sites and enable landowners to retain the use of their land for as long as possible.
''Awaab's Law''- changes to the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill
In this article, Henna Khan looks at what Awaab's Law is, what prompted it, and what it's impact will be.
Webinar: Trowers Tuesday – Supporting and empowering older employees
Danielle Ingham was joined by Emma Burrows and Martin McFall, and guest speaker Teagan Robinson from Anchor who is an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager. Together, they explored how age-inclusivity can make your organisation stand out, as well as ways to support older employees through tricky phases of life, such as menopause and caring responsibilities.
"The MOVEit Hack": Cybersecurity Risks for Contracting Authorities and their Supply Chains
Prominent organisations, including the Ofcom, the BBC, British Airways, Boots and Aer Lingus, have been recently targeted in a global cyber-attack by the hackers known as "CLOP", compromising personal data belonging to their employees.
Environmental Outcome Reports
The UK Government is currently working on changing the process of assessing the impact of development on the natural environment. To this end, they plan to introduce a new framework, namely Environmental Outcomes Reports (EORs).
The MaaS movement and fraud
Why authorities and providers should consider fraud risk in their integrated digital transport service platforms.
Identifying collusion and bid-rigging in public sector tendering
Following its investigation into bid-rigging and collusion on pricing in competitive tendering procedures, the Competition and Markets Authority has issued fines totalling nearly £60 million to ten UK-based construction firms. The contracts in question related to both public and private sector opportunities for demolition works and asbestos removal.
Governance risk and resilience framework toolkit - CfGS and T&H
As a councillor or officer, whatever your role, you are likely to carry out work that intersects with the council’s governance framework every day.
This material explains your role and responsibility and the role and responsibilities of the council’s statutory officers and political leadership.
