Local Government Reorganistion can be a catalyst for a more preventative, integrated, humane system says John Copps. For busy council officers – facing challenges day-to-day and relentless scrutiny from regulators – is easy to look at local government reorganisation as a distraction. But local government reorganisation is more than an exercise in administrative tidying-up. It is a chance for real reform. With 21 ‘two-tier’ areas due to break up into new unitary councils, the

In this article, Matt Carter and Andrew Laird argue that neighbourhood health requires mature place partnerships and community-based leadership – not NHS provider or local authority dominance. The context: ICBs in flux… From April 2026, Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) will increasingly operate as strategic commissioners rather than operational managers of change and transformation. Their primary role will be to set direction, allocate resources and hold systems to account for o

In this article, Prof. Donna Hall and Andrew Laird argue that the principles of Radical Place Leadership need to flow all the way from the council corporate centre to the heart of communities. Many organisations and systems are currently considering a fresh approach to the leadership of their localities. Councils see that traditional models of public service delivery (new public management) have failed. They simply don’t work for real people, families, communities and are def

Client:  Kent and Medway area, including Kent County Council, Medway Council and the 12 district councils Date:  July 2025 – November 2025 Challenges faced by the client: After the announcement of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) by central government, Kent (including 2 unitary authorities and 12 district councils) were determined to work across partners and organisations to come up with a joint vision for LGR. The LGR reforms aimed at simplifying the two-tier council sy

In this article, Prof. Donna Hall and Andrew Laird argue that to successfully deliver the Pride in Place programme, communities need to be given pride-of-place in both governance and delivery. Most of us have something in our homes that takes pride of place. Something we value deeply and put on display. A family photograph, a child’s drawing, a treasured ornament that was your grandma’s. Imagine if communities took pride of place in neighbourhood renewal. Imagine if residents

The next twelve months will be critical for public services and determine the scale of the reform that will be delivered in the next three years. John Copps picks out some of the areas to watch out for. 2025 felt like stuttering progress for a government that has styled itself as a champion of public services. It was always going to be a tough job, but the rollercoaster of the previous ten years has not been replaced by something that feels like stability. There’s been lots o

Client:  The five Worcestershire District Councils of Bromsgrove, Redditch, Malvern Hills, Worcester City and Wychavon Date:  Sep – Dec 2025 Challenges faced by the client : Central government has committed to simplifying local government. In February 2025, the Minister of State wrote to all councils in two-tier areas to formally invite proposals for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR). Working together, five district councils in Worcestershire were seeking to put together

Client: Norfolk County Council Date: July 2025 Challenges faced by the client: Norfolk County Council (NCC) is actively exploring Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) options to improve efficiency, strengthen place-based service delivery and enhance strategic capacity across Norfolk. This work sits within a politically sensitive and complex operating environment, where functions currently delivered by seven district and borough councils vary considerably in scope, scale and

In this article, Andrew Laird argues that the public service reform we all want to see will only happen if Place-Based Budgets are multiplied by Relational Practice. The drive for more relational practice in public services  feels like it is reaching a tipping point. Relational practice is about getting past siloed thinking and seeing the whole person or family in front of you. A major blocker to this is obviously siloed budgets working their way down from Whitehall and how t

Client:  Department for Education  Date:  April 2024 – April 2025 Challenges faced by the client: Local Authorities bear a statutory responsibility to ensure there is sufficient and suitable accommodation for looked-after children. Local authorities commission services within a market that, despite its necessity, faces significant and well-documented challenges. Recent influential reviews, such as the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care and the Competition and Market

Client:  Norfolk County Council Date: July - August 2025 Challenge faced by the client : Norfolk County Council (NCC) was navigating the complex landscape of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) as part of the national mandate to transition towards single-tier unitary authorities. Central government established six headline criteria for all LGR proposals. Under these new requirements, NCC needed to place community engagement and neighbourhood empowerment at the heart of its

As resources tighten, councils are at risk of diminishing to simply being a provider of last resort, statutory public services. In this blog, Kate Copeland and Ross Murray argue that this can’t be allowed to happen.   They reflect on their recent work with Norfolk County Council (NCC) to develop a new Community Engagement Model focused on creating a practical path for councils to become true partners with the communities they serve as well as other parts of the public sector.

When systems are designed around trust and relationships, they create change. Sophie Coles argues that great public services are about...

In this blog, Yannick Mitchell considers the gap between expectation and reality and outlines three practical steps local authorities can...

Following the appointment of Josh MacAlister MP as the new Children's Minister, Luke Bevir, Catriona Moore, and Elizabeth Roe reflect on...

When it comes to public service reform, large swathes of public services have been experiencing “delivery paralysis”. In this article, Prof Donna Hall and Andrew Laird explore why this is and what can be done about it. This article kicks off an Autumn of content from the Mutual Ventures team focused on supporting a stronger delivery focus in public services. #GettingStuffDone #DoingTheRightStuff!! Where we’ve been – and where we are… Reading the conference programmes for this

Andrew Laird argues that leaders must reject the short-termism of traditional approaches to achieving efficiency savings. Instead, they...

Catch up on our webinar 'Trusting Place' , which discussed the findings of our report to the LGA on place-based working, held on 6th...

T he spending review has given government departments some medium-term budget certainty and with it, the opportunity to launch multi-year...

MV and Re:State publish our report commissioned by the Local Government Association (LGA) in support of ‘place-based’ approaches to...