WIREDGOV

Local Government Minister Bob Neill MP, writing in a new essay collection from NLGN, states that government will be looking to local leaders to help deliver its decentralisation agenda.

The publication, entitled The Next Question: The future of local leadership, includes a cross party collection of local government leaders who each contribute their thoughts on what the key challenges for council leaders will be in the future.

Head of External Affairs at NLGN and editor of the publication, Liam Scott-Smith, said that:

“The Government is right to acknowledge the crucial role played by council leaders in delivering on the localism agenda. To ensure that leaders can continue to play an important role Whitehall needs to make an extra effort to engage with them.

With local government going through a period of unprecedented change we need to open a discussion about what the future role of the council leader, and by extension all local councillors, will look like.”

Contributions to the collection come from Cllr Mike Whitby, Leader of Birmingham City Council; Cllr Simon Henig, Leader of Durham County Council; Cllr Claire Kober, Leader of the London Borough of Haringey and Cllr Jeff Reid, Leader of Northumberland Council.