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The Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) is calling on central government to unlock local authorities’ potential to develop the green economy.

APSE’s rallying cry came as it launched a new report The transition to the green economy: the vital role of the ensuring council, which shows what local authorities are achieving and highlights ways in which national policy could be changed to enable them to do more.

Took part in a Guardian online debate today on the impact that the cuts were having on the Green agenda in local government.

A point I made that sparked a bit of debate was about how you generate behavioural change amongst the public, the example I gave is pasted below:

Today has been one of those days where your diary catches up with you, it’s my third flight in 3 days and this one is delayed! I am supposed to be speaking at an energy expo at the Olympia in London with Steve Cirell but as it becomes apparent that I am going to miss the start we exchange slides by email.

At Labour party conference this week in Manchester and a strange atmosphere hangs over it. After 13 years of being the party of government there is obviously some disappointment and it’s strange to see former Ministers walking around on their own without the usual entourage of suits with clipboards surrounding them. However, with the election of a new leader there is also a mood of optimism amongst many delegates that the page has been turned on new labour and things have moved on.

In Cornwall today to meet up with the Programme Director for Green Cornwall at Cornwall Council, Steve Cirell. Steve and me go back 15 years and shared many platforms and projects over the years in his time as Head of the Public Sector Unit at Eversheds. Steve has always been passionate about his work and I remember him as a leading voice in local government during the battles over CCT, his expertise on Trading and Charging, PFI and more lately on Best Value.

Up until recently climate change has often been described as the greatest challenge of our time although perhaps the world wide recession and the state of the UKs public finances has started to contest that notion.