News
Understanding family poverty in Glasgow: beyond the numbers
Glasgow’s seventh annual family-poverty report combines public data, lived experience, and service knowledge to support better decisions.
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News from the PSTA
Programme announcements, practical insight, useful resources, and work from the PSTA's partners and community.
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Start Somewhere: a learnbook for place-based change
A forthcoming free learnbook turns years of place-based practice into questions and tools for seeing where change is moving, stuck, or waiting for a decision.
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Small Ideas Initiative: practical fixes for everyday systems
Nesta and Involve are inviting practical, low-cost, broadly supported ideas that could remove everyday friction across UK public life.
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Winning for Kent: procurement with purpose
Kent County Council's 2026-28 policy sets out how its purchasing will pursue social value through jobs and skills, stronger local suppliers, and healthier communities.
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Reimagining commissioning: relational and learning-centred approaches
Dan Kirby and Steph Gamauf explore what commissioning would look like if relationships, shared learning, and adaptation were treated as core infrastructure.
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Earlier relational support for people with dementia: the Live More evaluation
An evaluation of Live More with Shared Lives reports improved wellbeing and independence, trusted respite for families, and an estimated £5.96 of social value for each £1 invested.
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Air-quality innovation masterclass , 14 October 2026
An online masterclass and surgery will share Westminster's experience of defining an air-quality challenge, engaging suppliers, testing solutions, and building evidence.
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A practical collection of relational services resources
Q Community has brought together reports, articles, recordings, organisations, and ways to connect for people developing relational public services.
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A season for change? The Relationships Project on relational reform
Rich Bell asks what devolution, public-service reform, and social care might reveal about the prospects for a more relational state.
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The Mayor’s Bear: stories of hope and local democracy
PSTA facilitator Jon Harvey’s new edition uses magical stories to help children understand local democracy and imagine how they can shape kinder, more inclusive communities.
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The neighbourhood that had no plan: a story by Mike Chitty
A story about what happens when neighbourhood life is expected to fit the health system's plans.
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Rewiring the state: the LGIU on local government's role
A new LGIU report examines councils' role in public-service reform, democratic accountability, prevention, and local capability.
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Associations and institutions: Cormac Russell on how change happens
Cormac Russell explores the different contributions of community associations and institutions to social and economic change.
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Reading: Mike Barker on prevention and the role of councils
A reading note on why immediate crisis spending can displace the local conditions that help people stay well.
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A commissioning instincts quiz from Ideas Alliance
A short external exercise for NHS commissioners to compare the approaches they reach for first.
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The debrief is where a simulation becomes learning
Turn an immersive exercise into a useful examination of decisions, assumptions, and consequences.
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Make the contract review useful to both sides
Five questions that connect contract evidence with service experience and practical decisions.
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Give a learning programme a real piece of work
How to choose a live project that makes development useful without overwhelming the participants.
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Find the decision your partnership cannot currently make
A concrete starting point for developing systems leadership across organisations.
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Commissioning starts with a question about purpose
A practical way to reconnect commissioning decisions with the lives they are intended to improve.
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Choose a development route around the work ahead
How to decide between an open programme, a bespoke cohort, and a place-based academy.
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The National Commissioning Academy returns in November 2026
The next national cohort will bring together commissioners, transformation leads, and system partners for applied learning from November 2026 to May 2027.
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