In July 2019, I stood up to give my first speech as LGA Chairman at our annual conference in Bournemouth – and on 4 July I will returning there to hand the reins to my successor, Cllr Shaun Davies.
I came into the role focused on adult social care, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), planning, the environment, and funding – plus devolution, as a means to these ends.
However, it’s safe to say that the four years since 2019 have not turned out how any of us expected.
The COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the consequent and continuing cost-of-living crisis have affected us all, both individually and as leaders of place.
In addition to this, the domestic political ‘churn’ of the past few years has made the LGA’s work with central government harder. My term as chairman has seen four prime ministers, six secretaries of state, too many housing ministers to remember, and three permanent secretaries at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Yet, throughout this tumultuous period, I am immeasurably proud of
how we have all continued to deliver for our local areas and our residents, new and old.
During the pandemic, councils emptied the bins and kept vital local services running while also supporting the most vulnerable, ensuring the vaccination programme reached every community, and getting vital financial support to local businesses.
We continue to support local residents and businesses through
the cost-of-living crisis, while also helping new arrivals from Afghanistan and Ukraine.
Yet, central government still doesn’t seem to trust us to deliver.
Next week, at the LGA’s annual conference in Bournemouth, we will be launching our new report ‘Make it local’, which sets out our delivery offer to government.
In return, we want devolution to go further, a resetting of Whitehall culture, a new approach to funding – and a brand-new central-local partnership in which local government can work to its full potential.