In this article, Prof. Donna Hall and Andrew Laird argue that to successfully deliver the Pride in Place programme, communities need to be given pride-of-place in both governance and delivery. Most of us have something in our homes that takes pride of place. Something we value deeply and put on display. A family photograph, a child’s drawing, a treasured ornament that was your grandma’s. Imagine if communities took pride of place in neighbourhood renewal. Imagine if residents

The next twelve months will be critical for public services and determine the scale of the reform that will be delivered in the next three years. John Copps picks out some of the areas to watch out for. 2025 felt like stuttering progress for a government that has styled itself as a champion of public services. It was always going to be a tough job, but the rollercoaster of the previous ten years has not been replaced by something that feels like stability. There’s been lots o

Client:  The five Worcestershire District Councils of Bromsgrove, Redditch, Malvern Hills, Worcester City and Wychavon Date:  Sep – Dec 2025 Challenges faced by the client : Central government has committed to simplifying local government. In February 2025, the Minister of State wrote to all councils in two-tier areas to formally invite proposals for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR). Working together, five district councils in Worcestershire were seeking to put together

Client: Norfolk County Council Date: July 2025 Challenges faced by the client: Norfolk County Council (NCC) is actively exploring Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) options to improve efficiency, strengthen place-based service delivery and enhance strategic capacity across Norfolk. This work sits within a politically sensitive and complex operating environment, where functions currently delivered by seven district and borough councils vary considerably in scope, scale and

In this article, Andrew Laird argues that the public service reform we all want to see will only happen if Place-Based Budgets are multiplied by Relational Practice. The drive for more relational practice in public services  feels like it is reaching a tipping point. Relational practice is about getting past siloed thinking and seeing the whole person or family in front of you. A major blocker to this is obviously siloed budgets working their way down from Whitehall and how t

Client:  Department for Education  Date:  April 2024 – April 2025 Challenges faced by the client: Local Authorities bear a statutory responsibility to ensure there is sufficient and suitable accommodation for looked-after children. Local authorities commission services within a market that, despite its necessity, faces significant and well-documented challenges. Recent influential reviews, such as the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care and the Competition and Market

As resources tighten, councils are at risk of diminishing to simply being a provider of last resort, statutory public services. In this blog, Kate Copeland and Ross Murray argue that this can’t be allowed to happen.   They reflect on their recent work with Norfolk County Council (NCC) to develop a new Community Engagement Model focused on creating a practical path for councils to become true partners with the communities they serve as well as other parts of the public sector.

When systems are designed around trust and relationships, they create change. Sophie Coles argues that great public services are about...

In this blog, Yannick Mitchell considers the gap between expectation and reality and outlines three practical steps local authorities can...

Following the appointment of Josh MacAlister MP as the new Children's Minister, Luke Bevir, Catriona Moore, and Elizabeth Roe reflect on...

When it comes to public service reform, large swathes of public services have been experiencing “delivery paralysis”. In this article, Prof Donna Hall and Andrew Laird explore why this is and what can be done about it. This article kicks off an Autumn of content from the Mutual Ventures team focused on supporting a stronger delivery focus in public services. #GettingStuffDone #DoingTheRightStuff!! Where we’ve been – and where we are… Reading the conference programmes for this

Andrew Laird argues that leaders must reject the short-termism of traditional approaches to achieving efficiency savings. Instead, they...

Catch up on our webinar 'Trusting Place' , which discussed the findings of our report to the LGA on place-based working, held on 6th...

T he spending review has given government departments some medium-term budget certainty and with it, the opportunity to launch multi-year...

MV and Re:State publish our report commissioned by the Local Government Association (LGA) in support of ‘place-based’ approaches to...

Client:  Slough Borough Council / Slough Children First Date:  May - June 2025 Challenges faced by the client: Slough Children First...

We have published a new guide for councils going through the Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) process – the focus is on the...

The National Audit Office’s review of the Home Office’s leadership on tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) and domestic abuse...

In this new episode of Radical Reformers, I chat with Kath O'Dwyer, former Chief Executive of St Helens Council and Chair of S OLACE . ...

Catch up on our webinar Producing your local Get Britain Working Plan, held on 8th May 2025 at 1.30-2.30 PM. Every area - led by...