This is the fourth and final instalment of podcasts recorded at the Sheffield Local Solutions 2009 conference organised by ALDC. You can hear the earlier instalments here: Clegg and Scott; Scriven on Sheffield; Carbon Reduction Commitment.

In the final session of the day, the Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Julia Goldsworthy MP joined Cllr Paul Scriven, the leader of Sheffield Council, to reflect on the day and discuss current state of play for local government.

Both talk about the Sustainable Communities Act, its potential and their disappointment in Labour’s implementation of it so far; of Labour’s crazy ideas for local government in the future, including an eye watering 18 pages of legislation on what to do with petitions – issued, ironically, by a body that cannot be petitioned.

Apologies that this session began before I realised it, so the sound starts rather abruptly at the beginning, and we miss the introduction and Julia’s first few words.

You can listen to the sound file right here on the web, or you can download it for use with your MP3 player. Why not listen to the conference next time you’re out delivering leaflets? If you use iTunes you can search the podcast directory for Lib Dem Voice; for other podcast software, you can use this RSS feed of LDV’s audio content.

ALDC’s next major event is Kickstart, their annual autumn training weekend for groups of campaigners facing Council elections the following Spring. As Kath Pinnock pointed out at the end of the session, all of the county council campaign teams who attended last year’s Kickstart went on to make gains this year.