This week JLGC assisted a visit to English cities by former JLGC Director Shigeru Naiki, who is now a Professor within the Department of Regional Economics at Teikyo University in Japan. Professor Naiki visited Birmingham, Bristol and Liverpool to research the consequences of the Localism Act on their city governance, in particular the elected mayor system but also City Deals and city regional working, hearing about the ‘Yes’ vote in Bristol and ‘No’ vote in Birmingham in last May’s city referendums, as well as Liverpool’s voluntary shift to the elected mayor model. He also visited the Institute of Local Government Studies at the University of Birmingham, where he is Honorary Research Fellow, as well as the Local Government Association.
