Local authorities hold vast amounts of data across services, from housing and social care to customer contact and finance. Yet that information is often spread across disconnected systems such as spreadsheets, customer relationship management and service platforms (CRMs) and service platforms, making it difficult to build a clear, actionable view of residents
By rethinking the role of leisure and placing prevention at the heart of service design, local authorities can deliver lasting benefits for the communities they serve.
The innovation foundation Nesta is offering free support to assist local authorities to develop their Best Start in Life national plans.
Alliance Leisure’s Will Gardner makes the case for co-location – bringing health, leisure and community services together within a single, integrated facility – to improve health outcomes.
Digital tools now offer councils a practical way to spot needs earlier and connect residents to help before they reach breaking point. Support for unpaid carers demonstrates the power of this approach.
The UK’s local government sector can free up much-needed cash by tackling the way it buys everyday items used in the world of work – meaning more time for staff and better value for local communities
Embracing digital procurement means local authorities can reduce spend, boost local communities and help meet net-zero targets.
In July 2025, the doors of Clay Cross Active, a revolutionary new leisure and wellbeing hub, opened for the first time in Derbyshire. The £26.3m project acts as a blueprint for local authorities wishing to embrace the co-location of health, social, and wellbeing services, and is set to transform the lives of the local community it has been tailored to serve.
Effective resource management is one of the biggest challenges facing councils. Recruiting and retaining professional expertise is vital to meet the needs of local communities but today at least eight out of 10 planning departments are short of staff.
Within 100 days of the collapse of construction giant, ISG, Alliance Leisure had every affected project back on track. Alliance Leisure’s Managing Director, Paul Cluett, reflects on how it navigated the challenges, the lessons learned and the power of relationships and collaboration.