Turning around troubled councils with Joanna Killian, Cllr Graham Chapman, Tony McArdle and Paul Frainer

More councils are struggling than ever before: in the past two years eight councils have been subject to formal government intervention or only narrowly avoided it, compared to five in the 12 years prior to that. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities recently advertised for inspectors and commissioners, suggesting there may be more interventions to come. In this episode of The Local Authority, we explore why so many councils currently appear to be struggling, the role of government commissioners and intervention and what it takes to bring about lasting improvement.

Joining Sarah Calkin this month is Joanna Killian, chief executive at Surrey CC and commissioner at Liverpool City Council; Cllr Graham Chapman, former deputy leader at Nottingham City Council; Tony McArdle, chair at Croydon LBC Improvement Panel and Paul Frainer, partner at TPXimpact.