group leaders - first magazine for councillors

People need a healthy home and environment

With the Planning and Infrastructure Bill in its committee stage, we have to counter the myth that there is the economy or the environment.

Delivering on 1.5m new homes

by Councillor Bev Craig

The Government continues to deliver on its flagship commitment to construct 1.5 million new homes within this Parliament, having set out to bolster resources, streamline decision-making and promote local growth with an expansive package of housing interventions that will empower local areas and accelerate delivery of high-quality homes.

One of the hardest budgets to set

by Councillor Kevin Bentley

I have been a councillor since 2002 and this has been one of the most challenging budget processes I have been through. Why, one might ask?

Planning reforms – the good, the bad and the ugly

by Councillor Joe Harris

I had got my hopes up that we had moved away from government diktats and demonising of councils, but the language being used around the Government’s proposed planning reforms is just that.

Holding each other to account

by Councillor Marianne Overton MBE

Elected from within their local communities, and tasked with making decisions that affect the whole community, it is right that councillors are held accountable for their conduct and integrity while fulfilling their role.

Working together locally and nationally

by Councillor Bev Craig

For the first time in 15 years, Labour councillors from around the country came together at the Labour Local Government Conference under a Labour Government.

Retaining the ‘local’ in local government

by Councillor Abi Brown OBE

As we continue to discuss devolution and the reorganisation of local government following the publication of the English Devolution White Paper, the one question councillors need to have on their minds is: how does this benefit my community?