Audience: Combined Authorities

Local authorities had been asked whether they had included climate as a corporate risk and whether their services and assets were prepared for extreme weather becoming the new normal. The reality of climate change was no longer distant; it had already arrived.

HWDI: How We Did It

Transforming Your Council to Identify Climate Risk and Embed Climate Resilience

Many councils had committed to net zero, but embedding climate resilience into whole-organisation transformation remained a major challenge. This session explored how local authorities successfully integrated climate risk into their strategic planning and addressed the significant impacts on future service delivery.

Emma Bull, Assistant Director – Climate at Local Partnerships, and Emily Bolton, Climate Crisis Strategy Manager at Cambridgeshire County Council, shared their experience implementing Local Partnerships’ Climate Adaptation Toolkit. They reflected on the key steps taken, challenges encountered, and best practices that emerged while embedding climate resilience across council operations.

The session focused on essential considerations for whole-council transformation to ensure services were future-ready. Attendees gained practical insights and takeaways that supported their own work, with the following key questions addressed:

• How did they begin to consider climate within large-scale transformation projects?

• What collaborations proved crucial to their success?

• What were the impacts for the council and local communities?

• How were colleagues engaged throughout the process?

Watch the replay to learn how climate resilience was embedded in practice.

Our Impact Report 2024-25 is here

We are proud to share our Impact Report 2024-25 – a reflection of another remarkable year at Local Partnerships. This report captures the breadth and depth of our work, and the tangible difference we’ve made across England and Wales.

As a publicly owned, in-house delivery partner, our role has never been more vital. Against a backdrop of financial constraint, climate urgency, and systemic reform, we’ve continued to bring clarity, capability, and confidence to the public sector. Our teams have delivered measurable impact – whether by supporting climate resilience, helping councils transform, unlocking infrastructure opportunities, or enabling local leaders to improve lives in their communities.

This year’s report illustrates how deeply embedded we are in the real-world challenges our partners face – and how we consistently help them rise to meet them. It also celebrates the growing strength of our partnerships across central government, the LGA, the devolved administrations, and local authorities.

We invite you to explore how we’ve made a difference – and how we’re helping shape a better future, together.

A new report, Empowering local climate action: Advice to government, published by the LGA and developed by Local Partnerships sets out advice on how to build collaboration between the UK Government and councils to deliver on the shared ambition for responding to climate change.

The Transformation and Innovation Exchange (TIEx) self-assessment tool provides a structured approach for councils to assess their performance against the critical success factors and key transformation characteristics of a high-performing local authority. Through a set of focused statements, TIEx enables teams to reflect on their current capabilities, identify areas for development, and highlight where additional support may be needed.

This toolkit is designed to help councils confidently deliver their own Transformation Challenge Review, a two-workshop process guided by the TIEx framework.

REPLAY – FREE Webinar Series – Housing support – Getting it done – secrets to success in getting homes on the ground

Join Local Partnerships and the Housing Finance Institute (HFI) for the webinar series to support the housing sector in getting homes on the ground.
These sessions are designed to share practical insights and best practice examples. Topics will include housing pipelines, socially responsible house building, regeneration and more. Whether you’re navigating complex development challenges or looking for strategic support, you’ll leave with actionable advice.

Local Partnerships, with funding and support from the Greater South East Net Zero Hub, has developed much needed commercial guidance for prospective heat networks customers. The government wants to see heat networks grow from 3% of the UK’s heat market to 20% by 2050, with public sector customers a big part of this growth.

The Net Zero Scenario Planner, commissioned by WLGA and Welsh Government, supports councils to calculate approximate costs and carbon emissions of decarbonising their buildings estates at portfolio-level across three incremental scenarios towards a whole building approach.

Developed by Local Partnerships, this decision-making aid also considers Street Lighting and Fleet scenarios and provides timelines to the 2030 aspiration for a net zero public sector.

Local Government Transformation webinar replays

Our transformation work supports local government as they consider how to make their services fit for the future. There are huge opportunities for the sector to make the most of new technologies, but customer expectations of services are high, and demand is increasing. The changing context of local government means that transformation is the new normal. We can support you to deliver effective change.

The newly released report, Constructing Consensus: The case for community-powered development and regeneration, presents evidence and insights from current practices, showing that when local communities are involved early and meaningfully in housing and regeneration projects, they tend to support new developments and demonstrate real ambition.

The report outlines strategies to overcome the adversarial planning process that often pits communities against councils and developers, enabling development to proceed more efficiently, while delivering both the quantity and quality of housing needed.

Key recommendations include empowering local authorities, enhancing community participation in planning, and revising policies to support community-led development. The report proposes a shift toward a more collaborative approach, ensuring that communities have a voice in shaping the future of their local areas.

Commercial waste services are a vital component of effective Recycling and Waste Management strategies, directly influencing the reputation, operational efficiency, and financial health of local authorities.

Optimising these services can lead to significant improvements in performance and financial outcomes for local councils.

The Commercial Waste Toolkit is designed to support local authorities in evaluating and enhancing their commercial waste operations. A well-structured commercial waste service not only enhances service delivery but also drives profitability, market share, and adaptability to future policy changes. At Local Partnerships, we have a proven track record of helping local authorities successfully navigate these critical transitions.

The prioritisation matrix is an invaluable tool designed to assist decision-makers in identifying the most promising change projects to advance.

Through Local Partnerships transformation offer, we supported more than 15 authorities in 2023. Our work ranged from developing practical tools and conducting options analyses to providing strategic support, consistently driving impactful and informed decision-making.