Greetings! 

With war in the Middle East, the fracas over the Rwanda Bill, and a general election coming, it feels like an unsettling time. Our councils continue to steadily provide the services that local residents need, and the LGA is there to help you and your council.  

Running the LGA 

LGA Board met this week and is gearing up for a new period ahead, with the new Chief Executive less than four weeks in post. We have done very well in completing several externally focussed actions such as strengthening our Peer Challenge offer for Councils, created a new training programme for member and officer peers, drafting an improvement and assurance framework for local government, and sent out a new membership booklet. Deputy Caroline Jackson and I are focussing on the new Environmental Policy Action Plan and monitoring for the LGA itself.

Helping councils improve 

We are interviewing new member Peer applicants over the next couple of weeks, which will certainly add more talent, diversity and expertise to our forty-one current peers. The volume of high-quality work for our group peers is increasing. Thank you for everything you do in responding to individual and collective peer requests for mentoring and training throughout the year, sharing your expertise and knowledge with our member councils and supporting the Corporate Peer Challenges as well. I am very proud of you all! 

Last Friday, saw the official launch of our Sector Support Offer 2024/25 and it is packed full of vital tools and support to help councils deliver critical services to communities, while helping harness opportunities and drive improvement across all regions. Building on the five overarching themes of governance, leadership, finance, workforce and transformation, it offers wide ranging support which has been updated to reflect current and emerging challenges and opportunities for councils across the country. This includes new additions such as top tips for chief executives, the improvement and assurance framework for local government and a growing series of case studies. 

LGA Annual Conference 

There is still time to register for this year’s LGA Annual Conference in Harrogate, from the 2nd – 4th July, with much planning and preparation being put into place. Alongside our political group sessions and plenary session, the Independent Group will also be holding its Annual General Meeting from 10am on Tuesday 2nd July. You can attend for free - just register with the Group office. Any suggested motions need to be into the office before the 18th June. All prospective motions are reviewed by the Independent Group Executive and if taken forward to the AGM, the proposer must attend in person or via a substitute to speak to the motion.  

Elections 

if you are standing for election or re-election in one of the 2,500 Councillor seats, Mayoral or PCC  seats on May 2nd, the support networks are here to help you during your campaigns: Independent Network, Association of Green Councillors and the Plaid Cymru Councillors Association. If you are standing or thinking of standing in the General Election, please also get in touch with the Group Office so we can maintain up-to-date records on where support is needed.  

On Civility in Public Life, the LGA this week issued a press release calling for no abuse towards candidates at this set of local elections. Anyone, regardless of their background or political affiliation, should feel safe to become a councillor. It is really important that everyone participating in these local elections are treated with respect and we do not see any instances of abuse and intimidation. As you know, all police forces will have a named contact during election time for those members of parliament, councillors and candidates standing for election. We await confirmation for this to happen. The LGA are currently asking for testimonies from members who have experienced abuse and/or intimidation whilst on the campaign trail and are happy to speak to the media, if needed. The LGA are happy to anonymise members if they so wish when sharing their testimony. If interested in participating, please let the Group office.   

And finally, although not members of the LGA, we take note of the work our colleagues are achieving in Scotland, and I would like to congratulate newly elected Independent Councillor Duncan Cameron McDonald who recently won in the Inverness South By-Election. Under the system of a single transferable vote, something our Group has been looking at and adopted for our own elections, Duncan won at stage 8 of the count, against seven party competitors. 

NGDP Finance Graduate Scheme 

The National Graduate Development Programme (NGDP) Finance Graduate Scheme is a specialised stream within the NGDP, offering a four-year programme dedicated to developing future local government finance leaders. We worked on an initial London-only pilot but are now exploring whether there is sufficient interest to expand the scheme nationally for cohort 2, to start employment with councils in Summer 2025. If your council is interested in taking part, please let us know by completing the expression of interest form by the end of April. If you have any questions about the scheme please contact the NGDP Finance Team.  

Cyber Security and Blueprint resilience series 

The LGA is developing a series of blueprints to support councils review and establish their strategic and operational approach to managing their cyber defences and bolstering their resilience plans in the event of a cyber-attack. The series contains blueprints to help councils plan their approach to managing and protecting against cyber threats and integrate cyber resilience planning to ensure councils can continue to deliver critical services to their communities in the event of a cyber incident. 

Councillors as corporate parents to care leaders 

All councillors in unitary, county and district councils are corporate parents to care leavers – but what does good corporate parenting look like in practice? As part of the LGA’s Step Ahead campaign, supporting young people leaving care, we are curating a series of short blog posts from councillors of all parties, responsibilities and backgrounds about their role as a corporate parent. Looking after and protecting children and young people is one of the most important jobs that councils do. We want to share both inspiring stories and simple everyday examples from our members to shine a light on what being a good corporate parent means in practice, and the difference it can make to young people’s lives.We are looking for submissions of up to around 400 words, which will be published on our website and promoted with councils. If you have a story you’d like to share, then please do get in touch.  

Elect Her – Join their Independent Councillor Focus Group 

Over the past year, Elect Her, in partnership with 50:50 Parliament, has been creating party handbooks as a resource for women to utilise when they step forward as candidates for local, regional, devolved or national elections. With the help of our friend, Councillor Cathy Lisles, we now want to create an Independent guide for those women who choose to run as an Independent.  We are looking for a diverse group of female councillors from different backgrounds and lived experiences to share their knowledge and expertise on standing as Independent candidates with us. If you have the capacity to volunteer just one hour of your time to join one of our focus groups, we’d love to learn from you as we create our Independent Handbook. Plus, you'll get to meet other cool Independent councillors in the process!  The dates and times for the focus group will be as follows:  Tuesday 30th April, 7- 8 pm Wednesday 1st May, 11 am -12 pm    If you are interested in joining one of Elect Her's focus groups, please get in touch with the Elect Her Community Team 

Cost of Living case studies 

The LGA is welcoming case studies and examples of best practice regarding ‘Cost of Living’ Initiatives in your council, please email Megan Edwards to share your case study or discuss presenting at one of our 2024 cost of living webinars. 

Must Knows – finance 

We have published a short series of guides to key elements of local government finance, written for senior political and managerial leaders. The guides cover how to get the annual budget process right, how to achieve the greatest value from working with auditors and the importance and role of the statement of accounts. 

Windrush Day 2024 funding 

The Government has announced 28 groups have been awarded funding through the Windrush Day Grant Scheme to support a range of arts, educational and sporting projects to commemorate the Windrush generation. Windrush Day is on 22 June and events and activities hosted by community-led organisations will take place between 8 June and 21 August. The full list of projects being awarded funding can be found here. 

Adult Social Care Training and Development Fund 

Eligible adult social care employers in England can now claim staff training costs from the Adult Social Care Training and Development Fund. The fund includes over £50 million to support up to 37,000 individuals to enrol onto the new Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate qualification in addition to funding for a range of other learning and development opportunities. 

A national recruitment campaign for local government has been co-produced with local authorities and Solace: ‘Make a Difference, Work for Your Local Council’. This event will present the campaign, the findings from a pilot delivered in the North East, and the ambitions for a national roll-out. 

High streets: how planning changes affect local strategies (virtual event)
Wednesday 8 May 2024, 2.00pm – 3.30pm  

Bringing together the latest developments and evidence from across the UK, consultants from Lambert Smith Hampton will present LGA commissioned research alongside insights from practitioners about how they have delivered High Street strategies and adapted to recent planning changes. 

Leadership Essentials Sports and Physical Activity : An introduction to physical activity and sport for new and developing portfolio holders
Thursday 27th June, 10am – Friday 28 June, 4pm - Warwick Conferences, Scarman House, Coventry 

Join us in Warwick for the launch of a new 2-day residential event! In partnership with Sport England, the LGA are pleased to announce a programme that will support 30 new portfolio holders with the responsibility for Sport and Physical activity. The programme will introduce Councillors to explore dynamic approaches to systems leadership to encourage development in their role to become better leaders and tackle barriers to sport and physical activity in their place. The cost of attending this programme is fully subsidised, accommodation and meals are included. To book a place, please email Grace Collins. 

Best wishes,