Local government reorganisation (LGR) offers a once in a lifetime opportunity to transform what councils do, how they do it and who benefits. It comes at a moment when trust in public services is low, demand is rising and resources are overstretched. It's also a potentially fleeting opportunity that stands every chance of being missed. At its worst we will end up with organisations with slightly different names, operating at bigger footprints, even further removed from local communities, doing the same old things in the same old, broken way.
This can't be about doing the same things slightly better, it needs to be seen as a chance to do better things. A chance to build councils that are closer to communities, more effective and financially sustainable. The Government re-shuffle could create the time and opportunity to address this.
