On 16th December 2024 as we were easing ourselves into the festive season the Government set out their intention to issue an invitation for local government re-organisation (LGR) and seek proposals from all two-tier areas in England. The pace at which this went from a non-issue to the only issue was super-fast, and understandably became the No1 topic of conversation for the first few weeks of January 2025.
Whilst local government has been re-organised many times before, and most recently in Somerset, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Cumbria, and North Yorkshire. So, it’s not a new thing but the recent announcement has definitely caused a higher level of interest and conversation. It’s probably because of the potential size, scale and pace of change being considered and the clear call for unitarization with the letter clearly setting out that the long-term vision for simpler structures (unitary councils) and commitment to quickly facilitate re-organisation in England’s two tier areas and potentially make change happen within and beyond these, “where there is evidence of failure, or where their size or boundaries may be hindering an ability to deliver sustainable, high quality public services.”
A few weeks on and LGR is naturally the hot topic and not surprisingly the conversations about the impact on local government leadership, workforce and talent have quickly followed.
Whatever your view on reorganisation and unitarisation it’s clear with the 16 submissions for fast track that it’s being taken very seriously and are on the brink of experiencing the biggest reorganisation local government has seen. Personally, I find it hard to argue the logic for unitary councils of the right size and scale, and as a resident living on the boundary of a city and county, I can see the disparity in the funding regime and the impact of place and council tax on councils’ ability to deliver effective public services.
What however cannot be ignored are the concerns, challenges and opportunities that change on this scale creates. Employees will understandably be concerned about job security, redundancy, TUPE, and merger. It’s natural, but it’s important that LGR is also seen as the creator of exciting opportunities, new jobs, new operating models, new ways of working, transformation, modernisation and digitalisation as councils pool their ideas and innovations. A fresh chance to reinvent local government and have a bigger impact on communities and their outcomes.
We’ve recently seen reluctance to commit to district council roles as futures are perceived as less assured, with some candidates waiting to see how the land lies in the next 18 months as the fast trackers create the new councils and deliver devolution. What’s clear is that it’s going to be a busy time for local government leaders and particularly HR and OD professionals as councils work to retain and develop their talented workforce whilst supporting them through change effectively.
With talent demands already outstripping supply, particularly in highly areas such as finance, legal, HR, social care, planning and housing, LGR will potentially bring demand for specialist interim and fixed term closure and start up transformation and change support, and the sector will need to think creatively and collaboratively about how it will deliver the new councils, particularly the new leadership and management teams.
Jim McMahon makes clear that the government understand the challenge, “we are under no illusion about the scale of issues facing local government. It is in all our interests to make sure we are avoiding unnecessary spend at a time when budgets are already tight, so we will be working with sector partners to avoid use of expensive consultants wherever possible.”
Fortunately, there are lessons to be learned and insights to be gained from those who have already experienced LGR, and it was good to hear from Rachael Shimmin, Chief Executive of Buckinghamshire Council and Chair of the Association of County Chief Executives in last week’s The MJ about her experience in creating a new unitary: “Councils indicating their desire to move to a unitary state will not have the amount of time those of us in previous rounds of reorganisation had to develop plans. It is critical we ensure they have support that is genuinely helpful, and we do so at pace. There is a wealth of experience and knowledge within the sector and good practice to build on. Councils do not need to start from zero.”
Duncan Sharkey, Chief Executive of Somerset Council when asked about lessons learned from their recent reorganisation said: “if I could wave a magic wand, I would have preferred the talent issues and management team to have been a focus much sooner. Starting a new organisation with very few future focused leaders was challenging. I hope the system recognises the need to get the structures and policies dealt with earlier, at the pre-vesting stage ideally so that the team can hit the ground running rather than the first 6 months of the new council being taken up with recruitment and developing new policies”
John Metcalfe, Interim Chief Executive of the reorganised Cumbria County Council added “In my experience, a relentless focus only on those things necessary to secure the seamless continuation of service delivery should be the primary concern of any LGR programme. Central to this is the early and continuous dialogue with staff and suppliers to agree and implement revised working arrangements from day one of the new authority. Having one eye to the emerging vision, values and opportunities for service transformation should inform this work but cannot be achieved quickly without a solid day one foundation to build from.”
Penna are fully supportive of the Government’s intention to work collaboratively to deliver change cost effectively. In the 80’s a more centralised approach operated – much like a talent bureau to manage the people change and reduce redundancy and recruitment costs; in the 90’s many of the recruiters agreed standard fees to aid procurement and reduce costs. I truly hope alongside local government we can all work together to find a better way of procuring and securing external support; perhaps through pooling our considerable talents and working together for the good of local government?
It is incumbent on the sector and its partners to create supportive processes and financial constructs to enable LGR to be delivered creatively and cost-effectively. We look forward to discussing this further in coming weeks and months. And to discussing this at our MJ Round Table Webinar – Talent Talks & Walks on 28th March to explore further how can develop robust attraction, retention, and development approaches during LGR. If you’d like to join the discussion, please contact me julie.towers@penna.com.
Julie Towers – Director, Penna
LinkedIn: Julie Towers
Email: julie.towers@penna.com