Dr Jonathan Carr-West has been Chief Executive of the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) since February 2013 where he leads on all aspects of the think tank’s policy, membership and influencing work.

With over 15 years’ experience, Jonathan is a leading national expert on local government transformation, local democracy and public services. Some of his particular interests are in participative democracy, the evolving nature of public services and devolution. With extensive media profile and sector credibility, he has published on topics as diverse as localism and public service transformation, cognitive and behavioural science, and the politics of cultural memory.

Prior to being appointed as Chief Executive, Jonathan was Director of Policy at the LGiU where he led on research and consultancy, policy development and piloting, best practice dissemination, learning and development.

Before joining the LGiU, he was Deputy Programme Director and Acting Head of Programme at the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Commerce and Manufactures) where he developed and managed projects across a range of issues including environmental policy, water and sanitation infrastructure, offender learning and rehabilitation, community cohesion, education, arts and drugs treatment.