Local government reorganisation is no silver bullet for councils or social care

When someone needs care and support, they do not mind which council provides it, where the boundaries lie or how local government is organised. They want to know that help will be there when they need it, services will work together and they will not fall through the gaps. That should be our starting point as the Government presses ahead with the biggest shake-up of local government in a generation.Last month's announcement by local government minister Jim McMahon provided some much-needed clarity. Five areas now have provisional decisions on their future structures, while others have been promised an outcome by early next year.But the announcement also provides an opportunity to reflect on what we have learned so far and what must change if reorganisation is to deliver better outcomes for local people.There is much to welcome about the ambition behind local government reorganisation (LGR). Bringing housing, leisure, public health and social care together under one roof could make it easier to support people to live healthier, more independent lives. It offers the prospect of more joined-up services, stronger relationships with communities and clearer accountability. But changing council boundaries will not, in itself, deliver better care.Adult social care is not simply another council department that can be moved from one organisation to another. It is a complex network of services, statutory responsibilities, care providers, skilled professionals and partnerships with the NHS. Much of it operates across council boundaries and unpicking these arrangements is neither straightforward nor without risk.Decisions about how services are divided, how safeguarding responsibilities transfer, where people are ordinarily resident and which digital systems are used might sound technical, but get them wrong and the consequences for people who rely on care and support could be profound.That is why social care leaders must be involved in designing new councils from the outset, not brought in later to work out how to make the structures function.We also need to acknowledge the human cost of the process so far. Significant time, energy and public money have already been invested in preparing for reorganisation. Council staff have faced months of uncertainty about their jobs, their teams and the future of the services they are committed to delivering.Senior leaders have spent considerable time reassuring staff and maintaining morale while continuing to deliver essential services. That effort and the toll uncertainty takes on people should not be underestimated.There are lessons here about how we approach change. Competition between councils over future boundaries can strain relationships at precisely the moment when collaboration matters most. We have also seen gaps in understanding between different tiers of local government about how services operate and the challenges they face.A more collaborative approach, drawing on the expertise of those delivering services every day, will produce better results than a race to meet arbitrary deadlines.We should also be realistic about what reorganisation can achieve. It is not a silver bullet for the financial pressures facing councils or the growing demand for adult social care. We must avoid transferring inefficiencies from one council structure into another. Instead, we need to correct any underlying problems first.New structures alone cannot resolve longstanding challenges around funding, quality and capacity.Leadership will be critical. Strong political and professional leadership is one of the most important factors in the quality of care people experience. As councils reorganise, we must protect and strengthen the pipeline of directors of adult social services and other senior leaders. The Government's commitment to supporting aspiring and newly-appointed directors is welcome and needs to be delivered.The Government has also recognised the pressures on councils, announcing additional transition funding, including support for leadership capacity and continuity in social care and other vital services. This is positive, but it must be matched by realistic expectations.At the same time, councils are being asked to deliver ambitious reforms to neighbourhood health and care, contribute to the Casey Commission and prepare for a National Care Service. There is a real danger the effort required to reorganise local government diverts attention and capacity from improving services today.And these challenges extend well beyond adult social care. Children's services face many of the same complexities around safeguarding, workforce, statutory responsibilities and continuity of support. Both services must be central to decisions about the future of local government, rather than treated as functions to be fitted into structures once they have been agreed.These are some of the issues we will be exploring at the National Children and Adult Services Conference this week, in a session entitled ‘Local government reorganisation – lessons, impact and opportunities'.I will be joining Rachael Wardell, the immediate past-president of the Association of Directors of Children's Services for a discussion on Wednesday chaired by Sarah Rouse, vice-chair of the Local Government Association's Health and Wellbeing Committee.Above all, the next phase of LGR must put the sustainability, resilience and quality of children's and adults' services at the heart of decisions. Together, they account for most of council expenditure and touch the lives of millions of people.The test of successful reorganisation will not be whether new councils are established on time. It will be whether, years from now, people can access better, more joined-up support and live the lives they want to lead. That is the prize worth pursuing.Nick Presmeg is policy trustee at the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS)

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Local government reorganisation is no silver bullet for councils or social care

By Nick Presmeg | 11 November 2026

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