As declared by Dr Dominique Hes in 2017, there is quite simply “no sustainability without community engagement”. The topic of how organisations bring their staff and customers ’with them’ on cultural and transformative journeys is never far away.

The complex and challenging nature of delivering public services at a local level has never been under more pressure. Public service integration – collaboration between different services within local government and with external partners across other sectors – can make a very real and significant difference.

We consider how local authorities can navigate the twin tasks of reformed local service provision and successful placemaking in the short and medium term.

In any given year, and setting aside the extra Covid-19-based demands of 2020, the UK Government disburses over £100bn in grants and funded schemes.

We’re helping the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) deal with a huge surge in calls to its Universal Credit helpline from vulnerable citizens during the Coronavirus pandemic.

The UK is set to spend over £9bn this year on PFI contracts – and a total of £48bn in the next five years. This level of spending will continue until we see the first peak in contracts expiring around 2030. Expiry will see assets worth £14bn (their original capital value) transferring back to public ownership.