Key Cities SIG - annual report to LGA Board 2025

• Lead Member: Cllr John Merry
• Lead Officer: Jonathon Stancombe
• Email: [email protected]
• Address: Civic Centre, Chorley Road, Swinton, Salford, M27 5FJ
• Telephone: 07967424591
• Website: www.keycities.uk

The Key Cities Group is a diverse, cross-party network of councils for urban cities and places, acting as a united voice for urban Britain.

Our membership consists of 24 local authorities. These are: Bath & NES, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Bradford, Cumberland, Colchester, Coventry, Exeter, Gloucester, Hull, Kirklees, Lancaster, Lincoln, Medway, Newport, Norwich, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Salford, Southampton, Southend on Sea, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland, Wolverhampton and Wrexham.

Eligibility to Key Cities is primarily extended to mid-sized cities and places included in the Centre for Cities ‘Cities Index’ as well as other areas which do not fit into this population band but are significant to the wider area in their local economy and to the UK as a whole and have similar challenges and ambitions to the group.

The Key Cities Group aims to provide a unified voice to ensure that those cities and places within the group are more visible and are consistently represented in policy-making at a national level. We share best practice and look for innovative solutions to issues faced by our cities and urban places.

We are working to lobby Government and engage with critical Government Ministers based on a clear and consistent set of key asks and messages which are of particular importance to our group of cities – in order to exert sufficient influence over the national agenda.

The work of the Key Cities network contributes to the following LGA priorities and themes set out in the business plan, in particular:

To champion and represent local government

Key Cities is a non-partisan cross party network of 24 local authorities working to provide a united voice for urban Britain. We produce ideas, research and engagement, drawing directly upon the insight and day-to-day experience of our leaders. The network provides a unified voice to ensure that those medium-sized cities and urban areas within the group are more visible and are consistently represented in policy-making at a national level. We ensure that their voice is heard through our consistent engagement with government and senior civil servants via various parliamentary events, links with other bodies and through engagement with Ministers. The network’s priority is to showcase the value of prosperous urban areas that are invested in, in a successful thriving country. 

To continually improve local government

Our membership produces high-quality research and bold thinking to find innovative solutions for today’s urban challenges, for example on Net Zero, skills and culture. Drawing on the experience and direction of our member cities, our research arm provides a thorough evidence base to help unlock successful devolution and drive place-based innovation.

The network works to identify good practice among its members, and takes the opportunity to communicate these to our key audiences, to showcase ways that local government can innovate. For example, in December 2024 a workshop was hosted with frontline workers in the social care sector for a discussion on challenges to service delivery and examples of innovation to meet local demand. The findings were compiled into a report and shared with parliamentarians.

The work of the Key Cities has the answer to some of the challenges facing local authorities, as well as the challenges facing Government. For this reason, Key Cities promotes its work among government circles – the network has strong engagement with Government Ministers and Departments, and runs a successful All-Party Parliamentary Group. The Key Cities APPG, briefings, events and research initiatives help drive the national policy agenda on cities.

To inspire and promote innovation in local government

As above, Key Cities works to identify innovative working practices among its membership, and promotes the sharing of these examples throughout the membership and across the country in national circles. A recent example is our Cities Forum 2025 – our inaugural conference which invited representatives from the private sector as well as the public, to come together in a day of discussions on how both sectors can partner for growth across a range of policy areas: housing; Net Zero; culture; skills and innovation.

Another example of inspiring innovation is that Key Cities has recently partnered with ‘We Made That’, an organisation dedicated to socially impactful urban planning and design. Through the partnership, we aim to produce a report on how local authorities can be more innovative and intentional about urban strategies for inclusive and sustainable prosperity in communities.

• Social Care: views from the frontline’ is our short report from February 2025, which captures the views of frontline social care staff and cabinet members with responsibility for social care, which makes recommendations to government on the actions they should take in the short and long-term to stabilise the care sector. It also includes examples of innovative approaches from our member authorities.
• ‘On the waterfront’ report on Coastal Communities – in March 2025, Key Cities published its report of research on the challenges faced by – and opportunities for – coastal communities, with recommendations to government on how to tackle disadvantage in these areas. It covers decline in educational attainment, health outcomes, poor infrastructure and heightened risk from climate change in coastal areas when compared with inland counterparts. It is the culmination of work between universities and leaders of councils in coastal areas.
• ‘Culture, Place & Development’ report – in May 2025, the key Cities Innovation Network (a sister network which joins civic leaders from Key Cities with local universities) published its report of ideas for driving development through culture and creativity for the benefit of local people and places. This paper is a collection of peer-reviewed papers on innovative approaches to use culture to develop successful places – which were selected for their relevance and potential to be replicated in other places.

Conferences and events

• Labour Party Conference – Key Cities hosted a fringe event, ‘Ensuring the future prosperity of cities’ which explored the evolving relationship between local and central government, with a strong focus on partnership, devolution and the challenges faced by local councils. There was an emphasis on the need for greater autonomy for local authorities, highlighting how local government can play a crucial role in achieving national objectives, especially in urban areas. Speakers included Cllr John Merry, chair of Key Cities, Jim McMahon MP, Minister for Local Government & English Devolution, Cllr Michael Mordey, Leader of Sunderland City Council and Darren Paffey, MP for Southampton Itchen.
• Cities Forum 2025: On 29 April 2025, Key Cities hosted its first in-person conference, bringing together key players from cities in the public sector as well as the private sector together for a day of panel discussions and networking around the topic ‘Partnering for Growth’, exploring how public-private partnerships can help to deliver some of local government’s core challenges – housing, Net Zero, culture, skills and innovation.
• UKREiiF – In May 2025, we held a networking event aimed at bringing together city leaders from Key Cities, Scottish Cities and representatives from the National Wealth Fund, for discussion on how the government and private sector can work together to drive economic growth.

Collaborative partnerships

• Department of Levelling-Up, Housing and Communities – Key Cities collaborates closely with Civil Servants and Ministers across DLUHC, including attendance to the bi-monthly local government stakeholder group, and regular invitations to special Ministerial roundtables to advise on funding streams such as UKSPF and the Levelling Up fund.
• 3Ci – Key Cities is an official partner of 3Ci, a collaborative effort between local authorities, the Connected Places Catapult, and the private sector, seeks to facilitate financial partnerships between major investors and local leaders.
• Arts Council England – Following the launch of our Culture and Place in Britain report, Key Cities has been collaborating with ACE in efforts to build up a picture of cultural strategy and priorities across the Key Cities network with the aim of supporting member cities with targeted intelligence and support.