Politicians, leading academics and trade unionists will share ideas today on the development of improved public services. The Wales TUC and Cardiff University are bringing them for a conference designed to build on the Welsh Social Partnership Agreement. 

A local government think-tank says that the government and water companies are waking up to some hard truths about water supply and treatment. The Local Government Information Unit says councils and local people still have no control over water management in their areas.
The LgiU said a new report from the all party parliamentary water group, led by former Agriculture Minister, Elliot Morley had bluntly described the scale of the challenge. 

The Audit Commission and the IDeA have published case studies of the winners of a competition to find examples of innovation. The aim of the competition was to stimulate councils to innovate in the face of huge challenges such as coping with the implications of demographic change and migration; addressing sustainability and the challenge of climate change; and tackling systemic inequalities in health, worklessness and levels of cohesion, both between and within localities.