The Government is transforming the structural landscape of both local government and the NHS at the same time. It is a high-risk strategy with two clear drivers. The first is a genuine view that the current convoluted landscape, built up through a series of previous botched reforms, is a fundamental barrier to delivering policy ambitions. And the second is money – consolidate and simplify the structures and there will be a significant saving to the public purse.

With the prospect of fewer, larger councils and merged Integrated Care Systems, the danger is that people feel even more disempowered. The crucial question then is how we bridge the gap and use the space that is created to reinvent the relationship between communities and those in power. And in doing so, can we accelerate the delivery of the Government's missions?