I'm signing off from this blog for the weekend now – and looking forward to welcoming beatblogger John Baron back from his holidays on Monday.
It's been a great couple of weeks sharing your news and views so thanks for all the many comments, emails, tweets and conversations.
Also a special thank you to our guest bloggers Harriet Cawley, Samantha Gildea, Sarah Dawson, Helen Patchett and Lucy Glynn for their contributions.
Please do not me know via the comments below, or by email to local.editor@guardian.co.uk, if there's anything you'd like to see more of on the blog, or any particular subject or area you think we should be investigating further.
I look forward to hearing from you - have a great weekend!
