Local government reorganisation and public service delivery: What are the options and challenges?

The government’s major restructuring of local government will be a formidable challenge for local officials and political leaders in 164 district councils across 21 English county areas and 19 small neighbouring unitary authorities. For local government reorganisation to truly act as a catalyst for local public service reform, as envisaged by central government, services currently delivered by outgoing district councils – like waste collection and housing – will need to be merged and delivered from day one of the new unitary authorities’ existence.

 

This means harmonising service provision, staff terms and conditions, establishing new management structures and resolving issues such as incompatible ICT systems, culture clashes between teams and overcome incompatible business processes.

 

What are the challenges and options facing local district council leaders? How long does it take to merge these services? What are the risks and opportunities? What have been the greatest barriers to successful transformation in earlier rounds of local government reorganisation? And what structures and service delivery options are available to the new unitary authorities?

 

To answer these questions and more, this IfG event brought together an expert panel, including:

 

• Professor John Denham, Research Fellow and Director of the Centre for English Identity and Politics at the University of Southampton
• Liz Elliott, Deputy Chief Executive – Transformation at Harborough District Council
• Justin Galliford, Chief Executive at Norse Group
• Rachel Joyce, Assistant Chief Executive – Local Engagement at North Yorkshire Council

 

The event was chaired by Dr Matthew Fright, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government.

 

We would like to thank Norse Group for kindly supporting this event.

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