Event: Commonwealth Local Government Conference: Energising local economies - partnerships for prosperous communities

Local government in many countries has a growing responsibility to support and promote local economic development (LED). This covers a range of different issues for the local government sector, from setting overall local strategic priorities, providing an enabling environment and efficient services for economic development to flourish, local procurement of goods and services, promoting inward investment, supporting training and skills development, directly attracting jobs and investment, working with central government, the private sector and other partners to implement joint investment and job-creating strategies. A healthy local economy also helps to sustain the tax-base of local authorities.

Previous CLGF conferences have shown that local government is strongest when it is working in partnership, as a community leader, consulting local people and bringing together all the stakeholders in its area that can help make a difference to drive prosperity and improve the well-being and prosperity of local people. Building on the outcomes of previous events, this conference will look at the vision for local government to meet the needs and aspirations of the Commonwealth’s two billion citizens.

This is the sixth Commonwealth Local Government Conference and follows highly successful events including in Freeport, Grand Bahama in 2009, Auckland, New Zealand in 2007, in Aberdeen, Scotland in 2005 and Tshwane, South Africa in 2003. The outcomes of these conferences have been endorsed by Commonwealth Heads of Governments and are helping central governments and local governments to strengthen their governance and democratic processes and to deliver better services.