In December 2024, the Government announced a significant reform programme set to reshape the future of local government across England. The proposals as then announced included two main initiatives:
Since the initial announcement, the policy has been "fine-tuned" and much has been written about the evolving plans. With further developments expected, including various structural options for the areas under review, the landscape remains dynamic.
However, for local authority lawyers, now is the time to begin considering the workstreams and the project management implications you and your team will need to provide support on.
At the risk of being obvious, the day job still carries on. Devolution and local government reorganisation still on top of existing pressures. Although some argue such structural changes will deliver savings, the current financial pressures on the sector are unparalleled and may well continue after these changes. With all the demands on resources from within the Council that that requires. So how will you and your team cope in terms of capacity and resilience?
Certain workstreams will no doubt arise, including:
There will also be distinct challenges in transferring legal responsibilities for functions such as licensing or elections, areas often aligned with legal services, from existing authorities to new unitary or combined authorities.
The scale and speed is daunting, so early thinking engagement - at least how and what needs to be done, the impact of the timeframe and the key priorities - may well be worth consideration sooner than later.
If you would like to recieve emailed updates across the upcoming series, please sign up to our public sector law brief here.