Shedding Tiers – Devolution White Paper

The government’s Devolution White Paper sets out a framework for the biggest change to local government reorganisation in a lifetime.

Its proposals to transfer powers align with a broader vision for reducing regional disparities and supporting place-based innovation. Devolution to all parts of England will come with extra powers and funding flexibility, with an expectation that will ultimately see the abolition of the two-tier system.

How can this renewed focus on local government best meet the needs of citizens when there are so many competing and conflicting issues involved in re-organisation, such as democratic representation, efficiency, sense of place and community engagement and service delivery?

It is likely that in most cases/places there is no easy, or consensual ‘answer’, solution or proposal. It is therefore beholden on local leaders, and elected representatives, to determine the appropriate balance between these different factors with the priority being the interests of their local communities, economies and environments.

All of the above need to be considered and framed in the context of securing much greater and genuine devolution of powers and functions from national to local government. In the ‘excitement’ of the prospect of reorganisation, this should not be overlooked. Otherwise, the benefits, including support from the Government, will not be realised. 

Some approaches to reorganisation and devolution will be based on things as they are being shuffled around, rather than fundamentally transformed, in radically new ways of working. But there is a significant opportunity to make step changes for the better with community empowerment at its heart. 

Investment in transformation resource, digital automation including AI and a change in culture will all be needed, underpinned by a clear vision for a whole new organisation rather than a patchwork of legacy ones. This will help to bring about stronger foundations for the future. 

Learning from recently formed unitaries, the time taken to change has been slower than desired because these key components haven’t always been in place and culture hasn’t caught up. One outcome of this is that some of the predicted efficiencies have not taken place yet, nor may they ever do. 

To avoid the pitfalls of that past, strong governance for transformation is needed, such as a corporate team with oversight and ownership.

However, it can’t be assumed that experience of change is something that everyone has, so if this is added into existing job roles then the support needs to be there. A programme management office is also useful here, joining the various component parts of change together and providing the tools to monitor and measure success. 

This will be particularly important where there is a bringing together of legacy districts and smaller unitaries with significant debt. The upfront financial costs as well as capacity and skills will be considerable and co-ordinated and collaborative support will be required if reorganisation is to be achieved within the timeframe desired. 

Finally, there is the matter of ‘business as usual’ while all these changes are taking place. Existing authorities still have to keep their organisations going, delivering public services, amid uncertainty which will have an impact on the workforce. In some cases they will need to disaggregate shared services before joining with others. Long term plans and strategies will need to be re-thought. 

Ensuring that public services are not compromised at any point in this journey is what is ultimately important.