A Tower of London rainbow - #London looking beautiful earlier today

A beautiful sunset and evening in #Liverpool. Very much looking forward to seeing lots of #localgov friends here over the next few days at the #lgaconference

Just about the busiest #lgcawards I can remember. Good luck to all nominated. A fab night ahead.

“The money is being spent in the local economy, it’s helping to safeguard and create jobs, it’s reducing antisocial behaviour and, ultimately, it’s providing homes for people locally.” Steve Grimshaw explains how Kent County Council brought 8,607 empty properties back into use 🔗

Beautiful day and rainbow in #Belfast today.

Great view from our #Belfast office this morning

Our fantastic PwC Local Public Services Consulting team continues to grow. If you are a problem solver with a passion for Local Public Services and a track record of delivering then please do check out the link below. The roles are UK wide. pwc.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/CRM_Experien...

This is so so hard to read. Currently on holiday with my children and trying find ways to explain staying safe, and why people do such things to us just for who we are. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Stumbled on a rare case of QTWTAIY - “Will MySpace ever lose its monopoly” @rentouljohn.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Continuing the irregular series of “Pictures passing through stations with unusual names”. #localgov

The English Devolution White Paper has seen a flurry of activity across the country. Less commented on is how the paper resets the Government’s narrative and view on London and invites the question of where next for London? #localgov #london www.linkedin.com/pulse/now-ti...

Passing through the station with the best name in the UK. Any better ones?

Properly enjoyed reading the Government's policy paper "A blueprint for modern digital government" this week. Was obviously a bit biased given I saw our work with LB Hillingdon was showcased as a good practice example of "Harnessing the power of AI for the public good". www.gov.uk/government/p...

As councils across the country respond to the English Devolution White Paper, we have been reflecting on the importance of getting the geography right when developing proposals for local government reorganisation. #localgov www.themj.co.uk/mapping-loca...

Although I’m glad Social Care is rising up the agenda - reality is we know most of what the Independent Commission will say. I would prefer the time is used to begin to actually make the changes. I worry the looming next election when Commission reports in 2028 will mean we lose (yet another) cycle.

I post an update on this every year. The centralisation of the UK public sector continues - with the move from #localgov to #centralgov employment. This is a systemic change that has come without a public debate. h/t @thomasforth

I post an update on this every year. The centralisation of the UK public sector continues - with the move from #localgov to #centralgov employment. This is a systemic change that has come without a public debate. h/t @thomasforth

We were proud to see our work quoted in today’s Devolution White Paper. It’s an opportunity for the #localgov reorganisations to be used to deliver ambitious transformations, not simply keeping the as-is and merging into different sized units. Many lessons learnt from the previous rounds too.

We were proud to see our work quoted in today’s Devolution White Paper. It’s an opportunity for the #localgov reorganisations to be used to deliver ambitious transformations, not simply keeping the as-is and merging into different sized units. Many lessons learnt from the previous rounds too.

"Rather than a zero-sum wrangle between tiers, we need to ensure empowered, confident governing institutions emerge and evolve to face out to communities" @jesstud.bsky.social on the strategy that's needed for public service reform 🔗 www.lgcplus.com/politics/dev...

It’s been coming but that’s quite the moment. 💚💚💚

A good thread on yesterday’s speech. A lot of the coverage has focused on the “startup” comment. Look beyond that and there are areas that #localgov + localists have been asking for for a long time. “the centre will not dictate how to do things - we set a problem and equip them to get on with it”

100% agree with this. I moved my old CD player from shed back into the house last year. It’s sounds so much better than listening to the streams. Also has got me back into the love of listening to a whole album again.

A great Saturday evening in the #Arsenal away end. 7 goals in the half. Wasn’t even a queue on the way back to the station as the #WestHam fans had left early.

Helpful infographic showing the current #localgov sizes. Expect the direction of travel in the White Paper to move towards much larger authorities for new Unitaries than these averages.

Was a privilege this morning to be joined by Mark Atkinson, Director General of Royal British Legion, on our weekly PwC Local Public Services call. Mark is one of the more forward looking and insightful Charity chief execs out there - and talked through the upcoming change challenges in the sector.

Thrilled to hear that Helen Godwin has been selected as our Labour candidate to be the next Mayor of the West of England. Hats off to Tom Renhard and Nicola Beech who ran positive campaigns. We’re lucky to have such great people in the Labour movement.

Massive congratulations to Helen. A great advocate for the West and a fab person.

Love this thread - where does #localgov get its salt from.

It’s very cold out there today and will be freezing this evening. If you see someone homeless tonight please contact the excellent streetlink.org.uk - it makes #Localgov aware locally and links the person with the support they may need.

Haven’t seen #charity Twitter move over here as much as #localgov yet. Shout out anyone leading interesting change in the sector you think deserves a follow.

One to make you feel old - this week is Scott and Charlene’s 36th wedding anniversary…

Well worth a read. The impact of NI increase on social care providers - causing a big challenge for #localgov hasn’t been spoken about enough.

Really lovely evening at the #PwC Building Trust awards. I was on a fab Charity table - with the worthy winners @ageuk.bsky.social - well done to all those shortlisted!

Interesting #localgov discussion with a council yesterday. The “NI and living wage changes in the budget are enough to swing our business case away from outsourcing Homecare”. Anyone else seeing similar?

Very different approach from the new government to #localgov experimentation.

The annual PwC Local Government dinner at #lgaconf24 is always a highlight of the year. This year we were privileged to have Jim McMahon, Minister of State at MHCLG, as our speaker. The PwC Local Public Services team hosted nearly 100 Council Chief Executives and Leaders for the evening. Fantastic!

PwC’s Local Government team will be in Harrogate for the #lgaconference in force next week. We are delighted to be hosting our annual Local Government dinner with very special guest speakers. Let me know if any of my Blue Sky friends are around.

Free FT game for everyone to play - you can be the chancellor setting the budget

The right decision all round. Agree @stephenkb.bsky.social?

Went to see preview night of “WWTAWWTAAnneFrank” last night with high hopes. They were dashed though. It was like watching an angry (and basic) argument from the other place. Quite a few of the two rows in front of us left at interval. Wish we had joined them. Shame.

At the Emirates for the second time in 24 hours. 0-0 at half time again - same as yesterday. Not the best game so far, hopefully gets better and more attacking from here. #arsenal

Agree with this. Euston is not only the bleakest station to leave London from - it also gives those visiting the capital the worst welcome.

Nippy Autumn evening with 0% of UK #electricity coming from coal. Renewables + nuclear making up 70%. Such amazing progress as a country. 💚💚💚

Thanks @benunsworth.bsky.social - looking forward to my new read.

Orbit is a new music discovery experiment from the BBC to help you find new music from unsigned UK artists. My team has been designing and building this for the last 6 months. It only takes a few minutes and you'll probably find something good... bbc.co.uk/orbitmusic

🆕 Total Place ‘Pilots Plus’ could help break the public service doom loop With the Autumn Budget in sight, @jydenham.bsky.social ky.social & @jesstud.bsky.social make the case for a new wave of 'Pilots Plus' that could be the first step in wider system reform www.newlocal.org.uk/articles/tot...

Today’s council view #localgov

Back at where my consulting career started this morning… one of my favourite places.

#london looks brooding and a little apocalyptic this morning.