The scale of structural change now under way across local government and its partners is unprecedented, and it is happening everywhere, all at once. Government policy is driving reform across local government and health, with further changes anticipated in a policing white paper, alongside wider public-service reform agendas.
The creation of new unitary councils, mayoral combined authorities and integrated care systems is not simply about redrawing organisational charts. These reforms fundamentally alter roles and accountabilities, though crucially in many cases displace people who have spent years holding systems together. Leadership structures shift, decision-making moves, and long-established relationships are tested. Embedding system working is no longer a ‘nice to have', it has to be the operating environment.
Place-based and system-wide working is not new. Many areas have invested years in building collaborative arrangements across councils, health, emergency services and the voluntary sector. Multi-agency boards, shared services and joint delivery vehicles are now commonplace. They exist because complex social, economic and environmental challenges do not respect organisational boundaries.
But periods of major structural change demand that partnerships are actively re-examined. As councils and partners change their form, scale and leadership, it is right to ask whether existing arrangements remain fit for purpose. Some partnerships will need to be refreshed or refocused. Others may no longer be necessary. New ones will be required to reflect revised geographies, responsibilities and statutory duties.
This means new, or at least different, systems will emerge – creating unfamiliar settings in which partnership working skills will be essential. System working does not emerge overnight. It requires sustained effort, commitment, shared intent and humility from all parties. In some places, we have seen that collaboration comes naturally. In others, historic tensions, political differences or resource pressures have left relationships strained. At times, the system can feel fragile, or even broken.
The good news is that relationships can be built and rebuilt. Local government has repeatedly demonstrated resilience and an ability to adapt under pressure. Rebuilding trust requires honest conversations, clarity of purpose and, occasionally, neutral voices to help create space for progress and re-establish momentum. In a period of profound change, how we work together may matter as much as what structures we create.
Mike Dearing is working with council chief executives and senior leadership teams on local government reorganisation, system leadership and partnership working
