News
Trailblazer councils commit to keeping it local
- 17 March 2020
- Posted by: Helen Nicol
- Category: News

Locality has announced the first 11 Keep it Local councils.
Keep it Local councils are moving away from bureaucratic commissioning and big outsourcing contracts following a series of high profile failures across the country. Instead they are choosing to unlock the power of community by commissioning local community organisations that put local people at the heart of the services they receive.
The Keep it Local councils are:
- Bristol City Council
- Bradford Metropolitan District Council
- Calderdale Council
- Hackney Council
- Kirklees Council
- Lewisham Council
- Newcastle City Council
- Oldham Council
- Rotherham Council
- South Gloucestershire Council
- Wirral Council
Tony Armstrong, CEO of Locality, said:
We’re thrilled to have these 11 trailblazers signed up to keep it local. Service delivery built on local partnership and the power of community delivers outstanding services for local people. Councils should see collaboration with these organisations as an investment, rather than a simple public spending decision.
The councils will be following the Keep it Local principles, which are:
- Think about the whole system and not individual service silos
- Coordinate services at the neighbourhood level
- Increase local spend to invest in the local economy
- Focus on early intervention now to save costs tomorrow
- Commit to your community and proactively support local organisations
- Commission services simply and collaboratively so they are local by default.