Local government reorganisation and public service delivery: What are the options and challenges?
The government’s major restructuring of local government will be a formidable challenge for local officials and political leaders in 164 district councils across 21 English county areas and 19 small neighbouring unitary authorities. For local government reorganisation to truly act as a catalyst for local public service reform, as envisaged by central government, services currently delivered by outgoing district councils – like waste collection and housing – will need to be merged and delivered from day one of the new unitary authorities’ existence.
This means harmonising service provision, staff terms and conditions, establishing new management structures and resolving issues such as incompatible ICT systems, culture clashes between teams and overcome incompatible business processes.
What are the challenges and options facing local district council leaders? How long does it take to merge these services? What are the risks and opportunities? What have been the greatest barriers to successful transformation in earlier rounds of local government reorganisation? And what structures and service delivery options are available to the new unitary authorities?
To answer these questions and more, this IfG event brought together an expert panel, including:
Professor John Denham, Research Fellow and Director of the Centre for English Identity and Politics at the University of Southampton
Liz Elliott, Deputy Chief Executive – Transformation at Harborough District Council
Justin Galliford, Chief Executive at Norse Group
Rachel Joyce, Assistant Chief Executive – Local Engagement at North Yorkshire Council
The event was chaired by Dr Matthew Fright, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government.
We would like to thank Norse Group for kindly supporting this event.
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How can changes to NHS incentives help deliver the 10 Year Health Plan?
The government’s ambitious vision for the health system can only be delivered by changing the behaviour of thousands of different organisations and hundreds of thousands of people working across health and care. To do this, the 10 Year Health Plan proposes some major changes to how funding flows through the system and how providers and individuals are held to account. This includes multi-year budgets, patient feedback linked payments, best practice tariffs, performance related pay for leaders, league tables for providers but fewer overall targets, and earned autonomy for high performers.
How will changes to financial flows help deliver the government’s health priorities? What impact will the 10 Year Health Plan have on allocation of resources between different parts of the NHS? And will the new accountability regime incentivise the right behaviours and ways of working?
To discuss these questions and more, we were joined by an expert panel including:
Thomas Cawston, Corporate Affairs Lead at Novartis UK
Anita Charlesworth, Senior Economic Adviser at the Health Foundation and acting chair of North-West London NHS Integrated Care Board
Sally Gainsbury, Senior Policy Analyst at Nuffield Trust
Hardev Virdee, Group Chief Finance Officer at Barts Health NHS Trust
This event was chaired by Stuart Hoddinott, Associate Director at the Institute for Government.
We would like to thank Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK for kindly supporting this event.
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What is the Conservative route to fiscal sustainability?
Speakers:
Richard Fuller MP, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Thomas Pope, Deputy Chief Economist at the Institute for Government
Ryan Shorthouse, Executive Chair at Bright Blue
Trinh Tu, Managing Director, Public Affairs at Ipsos UK
This event was chaired by Dr Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist at the Institute for Government.
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How should devolution across the North of England be successfully implemented and enhanced?
Speakers:
David Simmonds MP, Shadow Minister for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Dr Tom Arnold, Research Associate at the Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place
Cllr Abi Brown OBE, Deputy Leader of the Local Government Association Conservative Group
Helen Gbormittah, Regional Director, North West at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI)
This event was chaired by Akash Paun, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.
This event was held in partnership with the Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place at the University of Liverpool.
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How should governments rewire the state to get things done?
Speakers:
Rt Hon Jesse Norman MP, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Caroline Elsom, Head of Reshaping The State at Onward
Eve Norridge, Head of Research at Onward
Dr Hannah White, Director of the Institute for Government
This event was chaired by Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.
This event was held in partnership with Onward.
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The Labour government has a huge majority in parliament – but Keir Starmer’s administration is also facing an incredibly complex set of policy challenges. So how can the prime minister and his team turn around public service performance? What can chancellor Rachel Reeves do to get the economy growing again? What will mission-driven government actually mean in practice? Who should be making the key decisions in Westminster – and beyond? And what will the appointment of a new cabinet secretary mean for the future direction of the civil service?
From reforming how the centre of government works to the battle for the future of the civil service, from making a success of levelling up to achieve net zero goals, IfG EVENTS stimulate fresh thinking and share ideas about how government works – and how it could work better.
UK