1.2 Key Findings
Engagement with senior officers in county councils suggests that there is a severe lack of confidence that the risks associated with disaggregation are, or will be, adequately considered in central government policy, including potential decisions by ministers on competing proposals from areas. Fewer than one in 10 (6%) of county council Chief Executives and Directors of Adult Social Care and Children’s Services are confident they will be fully considered. There is also concern that not all proposals from local areas are fully considering the risks posed by disaggregation.
Opportunities from reorganisation
Local authority officers engaged through this programme demonstrated cautious optimism about LGR's potential benefits, with three-quarters of survey respondents expressing they were either "very excited" or "cautiously optimistic" about the possibilities that reorganisation offers for people-based services - but only if reorganisation is delivered in the right way .
The primary opportunities identified include:
Enhanced service integration: Unifying housing services with social care could enable more coordinated support for vulnerable populations, including care leavers and those at risk of homelessness. Improved data utilisation: Access to comprehensive resident data across services will enable proactive identification of at-risk cohorts and early intervention. Strategic transformation: LGR is recognised as presenting a once-in-a- generation opportunity to fundamentally redesign service delivery models rather than simply maintaining "safe and legal" operations.
How confident do you feel the risks associated with disaggregation of people-based services are being or will be adequately considered in central government policy?
40%
39%
33%
30%
22%
20%
10%
6%
0%
0%
Critical risks and challenges
Officers engaged through this programme were clear that the challenges associated with disaggregation encompass a host of wider issues which are likely to impact the quality and efficiency of people-based services on an ongoing basis, beyond the one-off impact of reorganising.
Building on the engagement undertaken with frontline professionals, this programme’s data analysis reveals several significant risks associated with disaggregating county-wide services into multiple smaller authorities:
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