Collaboration on LGR? Stranger things have happened…

On 26 November, the new series of Stranger Things dropped on Netflix, and by 28 November, 185 councils across England entered their own upside down, where they must continue to operate and serve their residents while their future is in the hands of Ministers.

The current programme of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) set out in the Devolution Bill will see the remaining two-tier local authority areas in England unitarised, affecting 26 councils in 4 Devolution Priority Programme (DPP) areas, and a further 159 councils in 17 wider LGR areas. 

While there has been steady progress with reorganising into unitary councils over the past decade, the current programme has additional complexities both because of the number of organisations simultaneously undertaking reorganisation, and because many of the county councils will be split, so there is a need to disaggregate complex service areas, as well as aggregate districts, boroughs and counties into unitaries. 

The tight timetable, together with the jobs, careers, organisations and local identities at stake have meant that in many areas, the process has strained relationships between councils. Different alliances of district, borough, city and county councils have submitted competing proposals for how their areas should be organised. Sometimes divisions have been along traditional party political lines, sometimes driven by differing perspectives between counties, districts, boroughs and cities, and sometimes based on local geographical groupings. 

Whatever the local reasons for disagreement, the effects are the same. Stress, eroded trust and disempowerment form a poor basis for the collaboration and effective decision-making which will be needed.

These conditions will prevail for councils during the six month gap between submitting proposals and receiving decisions. This period is fundamentally unproductive, and ministers have their part to play in ensuring it is as short as possible. The lack of clarity will slow decision-making, including on key government priorities such as housebuilding. The impending reorganisation will cause distraction for all involved. The frayed relationships will create barriers to collaboration.

Nonetheless, there is work to be done. And much of the work will be the same regardless of the outcome of ministerial decisions. Whether there are one, two or three future unitary authorities, and whether they are split east/west, north/south or doughnut-shaped, organisations need to be merged, and then de-merged and services need to be aggregated and disaggregated. 

That work requires information to be gathered and shared across councils around fundamental organisational building blocks including contracts, assets, systems, workforce, finances and services. And that foundational work of data gathering needs to happen regardless of outcome, and can start immediately. 

To make progress, councils can start by agreeing clear frameworks for collaboration. This means setting out rules of engagement and adopting a “no regrets” approach. These are actions that add value regardless of the final outcome. Practical steps include establishing data sharing protocols, defining what information can and cannot be shared and creating governance structures to support transparency. Councils should also lay the technical foundations for effective data management: shared repositories, consistent formats and standards, and processes for data cleansing and analysis. These measures not only reduce duplication and risk but also create a strong platform for joint working when decisions are made.

At Local Partnerships we are independent of political or organisational allegiance and we sit between central and local government, ready to provide help where it is needed.

We have been working at the coal face of data collection, and we are now hearing the need for help across the sector. We are offering support with: 

• facilitating collaboration (even when relationships are strained)
• creating the frameworks for data sharing and LGR programme management
• facilitating the sharing of best practice and lessons learned
• direct hands-on support where needed

Please get in touch if you would like to have a conversation about the help we can provide.