Delivering savings now – grasp complexity. Join our new Complex Transformation Academy

Reaching the next level of local government productivity

In today’s rapidly evolving public service landscape, local authorities face a paradox: the most promising savings and productivity gains lie not in the simple or even the complicated, but in the complex. These are the challenges that defy linear solutions, where outcomes are interdependent, stakeholders are diverse, and change is anything but straightforward. Yet, it is precisely within this complexity that transformation becomes most powerful and brings the greatest rewards in outcomes, productivity and financial resilience.

That is why IMPOWER is delighted to launch the Complex Transformation Academy. It is a six month programme, starting in January 2026, designed for council chief executives with multi-million complex savings to deliver. It’s a space for senior leaders to build the skills, capabilities and confidence needed to lead complex change.

The Academy is not just about learning, it’s about doing. With action learning, peer support, and expert facilitation, participants will be at the forefront of transformative change in the sector. Framed around IMPOWER’s EDGEWORK theory of complex change, this is about more than leadership development: it is about delivering the complex change that systems need to improve outcomes and financial sustainability.

As Jeremy Cooper notes in his recent The MJ article, genuine transformation requires reimagining ambition and embracing leadership that is bold enough to navigate uncertainty and drive delivery of that ambition. From workforce planning and adult care market management to shared services and waste systems, the most impactful changes have emerged where councils have leaned into complexity rather than shied away from it. As our analysis of budget trends shows, local authorities cannot afford to not tackle complex challenges, as there are limited alternative savings available and delaying leads to a bigger issue in future years.

However this is not purely a question of financial sustainability or affordability. It is about delivering better outcomes for citizens while maximising the value of every pound spent.  In our article, we highlighted that those councils that improved outcomes are also those that perform better financially and this is the story we see repeated across our clients.

With the Academy’s formation spearheaded bv Rachael Shimmin, Chief Executive of Buckinghamshire Council, IMPOWER already has several confirmed participants for the initial cohort. We are now accepting further expressions of interest from council chief executives or senior leaders who are interested in finding out more. We expect to confirm the members of the new cohort by the end of November.

Find out more about the Complex Transformation Academy – If you’re a council chief executive or leader of transformation ready to seize complexity and unlock your productivity potential, email Ebony Hughes at [email protected] to find out more.