About the Commission

About the Commission

After ten years of austerity across public services, local government faces a number of wicked policy issues, be it growing inequalities, housing, climate change or public health. At the same time, the organisational landscape of local government has undergone a patchwork reorganisation through City Deals and combined authorities, partnerships and shared services, asset transfers and local authority companies. Political leadership and democratic accountability have arguably become increasingly ‘messy’, as core internal capabilities and traditional ways of working have been challenged. Yet, there is equally a new municipalism that is emerging, one that advances new forms of local agency, inhouse services, municipal entrepreneurship and stewardship of place.

To understand and evaluate what these issues mean for the future of our local councils the APSE Local Government Commission will develop an independent analysis of the state of local government in the United Kingdom and focus on its future challenges and emerging role in delivering a New Municipalism. Importantly, the Commission has taken 2030 as its key date on the horizon, signalling its commitment to meet the challenges of climate change and sustainability, one of the pressing ‘wicked policy issues’ facing local councils today.