In this brave new world of Coalition Government we could be forgiven for finding ourselves staring into the glare of this new era like political rabbits caught in the  headlights of radical change. Indeed I have already noticed some Government backbenchers have started wearing sunglasses to avoid the glare!

But, as in all situations, good, bad or indifferent, radical change such as is being promised by the coalition does present an opportunity that should be grasp by others in the wake of the Governments reforms.

And, in my view the best place to start would be with our own Town Halls, our local councils. Partly because some promised reforms will affect Councils in any case and irrespective of the affect of those reforms, the £1.16 billion of announced cuts to local authority grants should prove a spur to reform if ever one was needed.

Much of the way our local councils work hasn’t changed in decades, there has been change, but all too often since the dark days of Thatcher, it has been change forced through in response to annual budget cuts.

It’s about time we had a root and branch examination of what council services we provide and how we provide them. It’s time for a local council re-think, to re-think not just service provision but how we work with local people to provide the services they want.

If we grasp the nettle of reform that the Coalition is sending us then we can harness that reform to enable us to renew local democracy and local government and provide a truly radicall and dare I say revolutionary approach to the way we serve local people.

There has never been a better time like the present.