Opinion

• Why praying for a broadband miracle won’t work

  Evan Wienburg argues that instead of praying for a broadband miracle, local authorities need to change their attitude to how future-proof broadband is rolled out.

  

• Cyber security: challenging the old way of doing things

  Dan Davies explains why using a decentralised, peer-to-peer system could help councils protect sensitive data.

  

• The end of public-private partnerships?

  Rather than abandoning all public-private partnerships in the wake of Carillion's collapse, Richard Tinham urges councils to explore other partnership models.

  

• Gender pay gap data - treat with caution

  Mark Whitehead explains why the new gender pay gap figures reveal a somewhat more mixed picture of what is actually going on.

  

• Why the abolition of the Audit Commission was not the answer

  Northamptonshire CC’s woes have been fuelled by a real-time experiment that failed, writes Andy Sawford.

  

• Keeping children out of care

  Five London boroughs are piloting a new payment-by-results model to help keep children out of care. Brigitte Squire explains more about the scheme.

  

• A new world of housing delivery

  Fraser Wells explains how a new type of partnership with the private sector is helping councils to share the risk of delivering new housing.

  

• Kober: Politics is a team game. Councils nationally must unite

  Claire Kober calls on local government politicians across the country to come together to argue for a fairer funding formula

  

• Purchasing professional services

  Rob Levene explains how local authorities are reaping the benefits of an alternative approach to buying professional services.

  

• The fall in funding

  Rod Penman explains how local authorities can protect their highways resources in the face of falling maintenance funding.