5 ways children’s services teams can prepare for local government reorganisation

Last Thursday I joined a roundtable with senior officers from the East of England focused on the challenges and opportunities of local government reorganisation (LGR) for children’s services.

Presentations from local authorities with previous experience of reorganisation shared practical advice and learning, and I shared some reflections on the wider context and priorities for children’s services impacted.

Five clear common themes and learning points emerged from the session:

1. Early preparation and budget development is critical Those with experience of reorganisation highlighted the importance of comprehensive baselining and budgeting well ahead of vesting day, alongside detailed planning for disaggregation and shared services.
2. Culture and leadership are key A key point of learning from previous reorganisation exercises is the need for stable leadership and early permanent senior appointments, together with an approach that values the importance of culture in the workforce of new authorities from day one.
3. Technical details need the right level of focus Technical challenges such as changes to case management systems can be a ‘pain point’ and require careful attention and management.
4. Planning needs to consider wider impact and consequences. When working through options around disaggregation and shared service arrangements, it is important to think beyond services in considering foster families, education settings, children’s homes, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision and what this will mean in practice for families and carers.
5. Reorganisation needs to be managed in connection to other priorities. Local areas face the ‘triple collision’ of preparing for reorganisation, delivering multiple reforms agendas, and maintaining the delivery of core services in a context of rising demand. The interdependencies between these activities requires careful prioritisation and sequencing.

It was clear from the discussion that there is value in reflecting on approaches, experiences and learning and also on how this can be applied within the current context of unprecedented change through reform. Over the coming months creating the space for this will be even more challenging, while increasingly important.

At IMPOWER, we’re having conversations with local authorities about how to navigate LGR while keeping sight of the bigger ambition: building stronger, more sustainable services that deliver better outcomes for children and families. If you’re thinking through what this means for your children’s services, get in touch to join one of our upcoming shared learning events with leaders from across the sector.