The Local Government Association (LGA) represents 466 authorities in England and Wales.

Until 1997, there were separate bodies representing different types of council but, in this year, a single body was created to represent the whole of local government in England and Wales. 

The LGA has its headquarters at Local Government House in Smith Square, Westminster, close to the Houses of Parliament and to Whitehall.

The LGA is a membership organisation and it exists to "deliver our shared vision of an independent and confident local government sector, where local priorities drive public service improvement in every city, town and village and every councillor acts as a champion for their ward and for the people they represent".

The LGA is part of a wider LGA Group which seeks to assist members to:

The members of the LGA represent over 50 million people and spend around £113 billion a year on local services. They include county councils, metropolitan district councils, English unitary authorities, London boroughs, shire district councils and Welsh unitary authorities, along with fire authorities, police authorities, national park authorities and passenger transport authorities.

The Chairman of the LGA is Cllr Dame Margaret Eaton.  The Conservative Group Leader is Cllr David Shakespeare.

Here is a link to the LGA web site for more information: http://www.lga.gov.uk

I am Chairman of the Resources Panel which has responsibility for the finances of the LGA and of the LGA Group.  Here is a link to the agendas of the Resources Panel: http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/core/page.do?pageId=20945

I am also Chairman of the LGA Selector Panel which is the body charged under the Sustainable Communities Act 2008 with considering applications from local authorities under the Act and forwarding to the Secretary of State those thought worthy of consideration and subsequent negotiation with the Secretary of State on the bids so submitted.  Here is a link to the agendas of the Selector Panel: http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/core/page.do?pageId=1788483&path=561616.13892&activeId=1788542   Here is a link to the Local Works Web Site which has promoted the Sustainable Communities Act ab initio: http://www.localworks.org