Across the country, local governments are collecting valuable information on their region’s challenges, and the solutions that work and don’t work. But these data sets are not yet fully comparable, reducing policymakers’ ability to learn from one another and make the most of their devolved powers.
More than 10 years’ of cumulative reductions in funding to councils, exacerbated by long-term impacts from the Covid-19 pandemic and coupled with rising demand for services, have brought budgets to a tipping point. But what can be done?
Even if governments are clear about what they should do, turning policy ideas into change remains highly challenging. How can evidence support to inform not only the what, but the how?
In this year and beyond, there are likely to be serious stresses across many parts of society – and governments - as the after-effects of the pandemic combine with high energy prices, likely recession, a cost-of-living crisis, and buckling health services.
