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Hardly a day goes by of late without headlines about gas and electricity price hikes or political rows over energy policies.

Ensuring a sustainable, affordable energy supply is a priority for councils, communities and economies and can be a way of demonstrating real community leadership. As well as needing to cut costs as major energy users, positive action can help tackle fuel poverty and carbon emissions, promote local jobs and investment and ensure a secure power supply for the future. Councils up and down the country - including Stockton-on-Tees, Dudley, Reading, Portsmouth and Southampton to name but a handful – are leading impressive energy initiatives at present.

We've all had enough doom and gloom to last a professional lifetime. So, while not shying away from the huge challenges faced by all councils, we wanted this year's annual conference to look at practical solutions that are already happening in authorities across the UK.

Over in Belfast today to chair the latest meeting of the local government reform joint forum.

Despite having a few challenging issues recently the forum continues to make good progress in negotiating all things human resources related contained within the up and coming local government reorganisation of local authorities in Northern Ireland.

It was great to see a real fighting spirit amongst APSE’s membership at the annual conference at St Georges Hall in Liverpool. A number of national organisations and their representatives appear to have recently become drained of spirit about local government’s future role, almost accepting that by 2020 local government will play a minimalistic part in society and the lives of local communities. That's not a view APSE shares and it was a chance to promote our 'Ensuring Council' model.

While there are few surprises when it comes to local government’s ability to attract the blame for issues of national significance they have had very little control over, even a cynic like myself was shocked at how quickly they became the whipping boys on public health when recent life expectancy league tables were published. 

This blog is based on my recent article published in the MJ

Never has the need for local government service delivery teams to have a commercialisation strategy been more apparent than at present.

APSE's latest research shows how local authorities can take a lead in ensuring the lives of a generation of young people are not blighted by long-term unemployment.

Local government has been facing tough times for a number of years now and yet the longer austerity rolls on, the more demand on services grows.

Housing, social care, school meals and leisure are among the many services facing up to this challenging phenomenon of more demand with less resources whilst trying to balance budgets.