In this episode of The Star Chamber Podcast, Marcus and Michael are joined by Owen Mapley, Chief Executive of CIPFA, to explore one of the defining questions facing local government today: how do we shift from short-term firefighting to long-term financial sustainability?

We begin with the latest sector headlines — from the latest analysis on Exceptional Financial Support and implications of the delay to SEND reform, to expectations ahead of the upcoming Budget. With limited fiscal headroom and rising pressures in areas such as social care and homelessness, we consider what the Budget may mean for local authorities and the wider reform agenda.

Our deep dive looks at the structural challenges shaping local government finance – the implications of constant firefighting and how authorities are responding to move towards longer term financial sustainability. Owen shares insights on the role of CIPFA’s standards and frameworks in supporting that shift, and the aspects of what a reformed, sustainable funding model could look like in practice.

Finally, our idiosyncrasy takes us back to the People’s Budget of 1909 — a moment when fiscal policy became a moral battle over the future of the welfare state. With Churchill declaring it a “war Budget” against poverty and squalor, we explore how the tensions of that era, reform vs tradition, redistribution vs restraint, still echo today.

In this episode, Marcus and Michael take a tour through some of the biggest issues shaping local government today. We reflect on the recent ministerial appointments of Steve Reed, Matthew Pennycook and Alison McGovern, and what their arrival at MHCLG might signal for the sector. We also cover the New Towns Taskforce report — its objectives, the principles underpinning it, and the delivery and cost challenges it presents.

We then turn to the enduring productivity puzzle: why productivity in local government matters, its chequered history from Compulsory Competitive Tendering through to Michael Gove’s “productivity plans,” and the difficulties of applying traditional measures to complex, people-focused services.

Finally, we round things off with an exploration of trust ports — the curious, independent harbour authorities that play a surprisingly important role in UK trade.

In Episode 5 of The Star Chamber Podcast, Michael Clifford and Marcus Richards are joined by Amardeep Gill of Trowers & Hamlins to unpack local government’s role in delivering the UK’s net zero ambitions. We explore the statutory context, the fragmented and short-term funding landscape, and the legal and financial complexities councils face in turning plans into projects. International lessons — from Nordic municipal energy networks to German KfW lending — bring fresh perspective to the debate on whether net zero should be treated as a core local responsibility.

We also take stock of the latest news, from the government’s reorganisation plans to Reform’s focus on Local Government pensions.

And, as always, we close with an idiosyncratic dive into local government’s past — from the Saxon origins of council tax used to pay off murderous Vikings, to the peculiarities of how MPs are permitted to resign.

In Episode 4 of The Star Chamber Podcast, we dive deep into the evolving architecture of English localism.

We begin with the new Devolution and Community Engagement Bill, unpacking its implications for devolution and ambition across regions.

We then interrogate the long-awaited Fair Funding Review – asking whether authorities will see it as a momentous milestone, bringing funding certainty and clarity, or as a shift that risks undermining resilience.

Our deep dive this month focuses on fiscal devolution, revisiting the radical recommendations of the Layfield Committee and exploring global models – from land value tax in Germany to local income taxes in the Nordics.

Finally, we turn to Development Corporations – tracing their post-war roots, the blueprint they set for new towns today, and how they manifested the “silken rope.”

In this episode of The Star Chamber Podcast, we unpack the recent flurry of government announcements – the Spending Review, the Industrial Strategy, and the UK Infrastructure Strategy – and explore what they really mean for local government.

We discuss how authorities can respond to these evolving agendas to unlock investment, attract private capital, and drive long-term, place-based growth.

We’re also joined by our first guest, Peter Arnold, EY’s Chief Economist, who shares his insights on the economic forces shaping national policy and local opportunity.

And, in true Star Chamber fashion, we close with a historical turn – tracing how the French Revolution, Earl Grey, and the Great Reform Act helped shape the foundations of the local government system we know today.

In this episode of The Star Chamber Podcast, we unpack the fallout from the recent local elections before tackling the potential moral hazard of central government interventions in local authority debt. We then head north to UKREiiF to explore placemaking, investment, and how these themes tie into the evolving role of Combined Authorities - including a trip through time to Margaret Thatcher’s abolition of the GLC and her clashes with Ken Livingstone (and his infamous banners), a story that foreshadows today’s devolution arrangements. We round things off with a dive into the Tudor origins of business rates. It’s all connected - politics, property, and the persistent tug-of-war over who holds power.

Join Michael Clifford and Marcus Richards for a series of discussions on the world of local government! In their first episode, they talk about the medieval origins of the term Star Chamber, how Liverpool in the 1980s shaped the concept of Exceptional Financial Support and what mountaineers have to do with Local Government Reorganisation.