Audience: Local Government
This “Local government finance – capacity and capability” study has been commissioned by the Local Government Association (LGA) as part of the government funded Sector Led Improvement Programme.
It has been undertaken as part of the Government–funded sector improvement programme, reflecting some concerns and issues on capacity and capability in local government finance, that have followed recent high–profile cases of failure and financial mismanagement.
We worked with the LGA and Leeds and Cornwall councils during 2022 to understand what approaches have worked in homelessness prevention, how much they cost, costs that can have been avoided, and some of the benefits accrued by their implementation. From this, we produced homelessness prevention report and tool, containing some simple cost benefit models which are free to use on our website.
The report “Mapping a route to clean local growth – clearing the path to net zero” calls on central government to raise the floor of support to help councils deliver a decarbonised local economy and to remove the ceiling on their ambition. There are five action points for local leaders within the report.
We are delighted to announce our impact report 2021 – 2022. The report highlights and celebrates the successes we have helped our clients achieve in the last financial year.
The report covers tangible results of the five main areas of our work: climate response, circular economy and resource efficiency, infrastructure and assets, complex contracting and public sector capability and capacity.
A new toolkit for local authority funding bid preparation in advance of the next round of the Levelling Up Fund has been launched. It will help councils improve the quality of their Levelling Up Fund bids and select projects that are most likely to succeed in attracting an award.
This document provides practical guidance to contracting authorities on managing PFI contract expiry and service transition.
‘Preparing for PFI contract expiry’ provides practical guidance to contracting authorities on managing the expiry of Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts and the transition to future services provision. This guidance is aimed at PFI contracting authorities, including Senior Responsible Owners (SROs) and PFI contract management teams and applies to PFI contracts in England across all sectors. It does not seek to be prescriptive, as the activities required to exit from a PFI contract vary considerably based on the nature of the assets and services provided, the form of contract and the future requirements of the authority. Instead, it offers a framework for approaching PFI contract expiry and transition, based on practical experience.
WEBINAR: Effective bidding for funding
The MJ and Local Partnerships are proud to present the COP26 podcast series. The series is chaired by Heather Jameson, Editor of The MJ.
The podcast series is designed for local authorities seeking to understand the implications of COP26 and decode what the high-level statements actually mean for the local government sector. If you would like to catch up on any of the podcasts, all episodes are available below.
The MJ and Local Partnerships jointly hosted a webinar series ‘Action on climate crisis webinar series: The MJ and Local Partnerships.’ in the run up to COP26, designed for local authorities seeking to accelerate their action on the climate crisis through practical solutions.
It utilises the experience of Local Partnerships and The MJ, and features insights and delivery advice from the local authorities who submitted outstanding applications to the 2021 MJ Award: “leadership in responding to the climate emergency”.
WEBINAR: Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund with Turner & Townsend
A series of lunch time webinars to help with Re:fit, Plan, Procure and Perform.
- WEBINAR: Re:fit lunch and learn: Plan with Tony Lawson, Director and Simon Chubb, Head of Sustainability, Anglian Ruskin University
- WEBINAR: Re:fit lunch and learn: Procure with Rachel Toresen-Owuor, Director and Neil Gromett, Managing Director, Alive West Norfolk, Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Council
- WEBINAR: Re:fit lunch and learn: Perform with Tristian Oliver, Director and Iain Goldsworthy, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council
Local Partnerships hosted a PFI Expiry webinar on 14 March to provide a practical insight into the key issues to consider when running through a PFI expiry process. The webinar is aimed at contract managers and individuals who have an operational focus.
There are currently over 700 operational PFI contracts, over 400 of these within local government. Each PFI contract has an end point, or expiry date. In the first part of this decade, over 50 operational PFI contracts will reach that expiry date, rising to around 200 contracts over the next 10 years.
Each PFI contract has an end point, or expiry date. In the first part of this decade, over 50 operational PFI contracts will reach that expiry date, rising to around 200 contracts over the next 10 years. The resources required to deal with these contracts will be substantial.
In June 2020, Local Partnerships produced guidance to help the public sector manage the PFI expiry process successfully. In November 2020, we followed this up with a webinar titled “Preparing for the expiry of private finance initiative projects” aimed at strategic decision makers.
Since then, we have:
- appeared as a witness at the Public Accounts Committee as to the preparedness of the public sector for PFI expiry
- provided expert input into the Infrastructure and Projects Authority’s guidance on PFI expiry
- reviewed 11 PFI contracts which are expiring within the next 7 years
- provided targeted expiry support to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority
- undertaken bespoke reviews and support across expiry issues to numerous local authority clients
Watch our webinar on ‘Successfully launching a commercial venture’ by clicking on the link below or scroll down to watch from within this website.
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