This section of our website lists recent articles written by NLGN staff on MAAs, articles by MAA Forum Members, plus articles the MAA Forum has arranged for others associated with MAAs to write.

Transport services in England remain far less integrated than many of their European comparators. Whilst Transport for London wields huge responsibility and power in the capital, other city regions and sub-regions are yet to be given the scope to develop appropriate mechanisms for their areas. Find out more

Greater flexibility and certainty of funding for MAAs will be pivotal if we are to meet the capital investment challenge. Capital Contingencies, a recent report from the NLGN, argues that the onus must fall to local authorities and sub-regions to ensure that fiscal limitations in Whitehall do not dictate a generation of under-investment in infrastructure. Find out more

The MAA Forum today (Wednesday 9 September 2009) welcomed the signing of three new Multi-Area Agreements – City Region of Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country; North Kent; and West of England. Secretary of State, Rt Hon John Denham MP and Minister Rt Hon Rosie Winterton MP signed the agreements on behalf of the Government and the three areas join the ten existing MAAs, the majority of whom are part of NLGN’s Multi Area Agreement Forum. Find out more

This latest report warns that if central government fails to incentivise deeper sub-regional working by putting greater powers “on the table” important opportunities for economic development will be missed. In particular concern is voiced that the city-region forerunners announced at The Budget and the Economic Prosperity Boards (EPBs) currently being legislated for in Parliament will not be granted the powers they need. Find out more

Devolution of powers to local authorities will not capture the public imagination. However, better skills opportunities, improved public transport, new homes, jobs and economic growth in the places people live just might. Government must wake-up now to the fact that to achieve this it must embark on a radical programme of devolution to enable a more citizen-centred and place-focused approach to public policy. Find out more

New Report: NLGN launches the essay collection Cities, Sub-regions and Local Alliances. Written in conjunction with our MAA Forum, it brings together some of the leading thinkers from across the country on the sub-regional agenda. The future direction for the sub-regional agenda is heating up. Find out more

Today saw the signing of three new Multi-Area Agreements at a packed reception at Number 10 Downing Street. The Prime Minister Gordon Brown signed the agreements on behalf of the government with the Liverpool City Region, Leicester and Leicestershire, and Pennine Lancashire partnerships. Hazel Blears welcomed the ambition in the MAAs, saying “there is real passion and drive behind these Agreements”. Find out more

Yesterday the Government renewed it’s emphasis on sub-regional working and announced proposals to strengthen Multi-Area Agreements (MAAs). Some members of the MAA Forum have been saying that they needed legal personality status, following legal problems they have encountered, and have been calling for Government to grant them this statutory status. Find out more

Every morning people across Britain awake to a fresh national news story about the economic downturn. Whilst the Government must of course make central interventions it must also, despite enormous pressure from the national London-based media to provide instant responses from Whitehall, ensure that economic challenges are tackled at the most appropriate spatial level. Find out more

The skills system is undergoing a radical overhaul in the next few years and Multi-Area Agreements (MAAs) will be at the heart of this change. As the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is phased out sub-regional partnerships will increasingly play a leading role in improving skills. The Government has made clear their intention to make the skills system “less top-heavy” and state that, whilst there will not be... Find out more

We are keen to work with all press and broadcast media - national, local, trade and online - whenever our expertise is sought on issues relating to MAAs, local government, locality governance, local democracy and broader debates about public policy.

The MAA Forum and NLGN has a number of key experts who are regular contributors to debates on the modernisation agenda within and beyond local government.

If you have a general press enquiry, a request for an interview or wish to commission an article on a subject matter with which the MAA Forum or NLGN is or has been engaged, please contact James Hulme on 020 7357 0051 or at james.hulme@nlgn.org.uk