It was a paradoxical and surreal moment when the news that local government reorganisation (LGR) was to be paused and reviewed landed with us just as chief executives were wrapping up a morning of productive decision making on our implementation programme, which we'd been working towards all summer.
There was immediate shock and some choice language. But as we hurried off to make sense of what was happening, phone leaders, watch the announcement on TV, attend webinars, rearrange diaries and brief teams, something else was happening.
