We Need More Digital in the LGR Conversation

By Darryl Love and Vicky Armstrong

Creating a new Council is one thing. Making it work is another. To make sure this happens, we need to give digital, data, cyber and technology resources a more prominent place in the Local Government Reorganisation conversation. Because they underpin almost everything else.

LGR is one of the most significant changes the sector has faced in a generation. Much of the discussion is rightly on governance, finances, organisational design and workforce transition. These are complex challenges that will shape the future of local government for decades to come.

But beneath those discussions sits an uncomfortable reality: Though a new authority can be legally created on vesting day, it doesn’t follow that it will be ready to operate on the same day. Councils need to be thinking about their technological building blocks.

Technology provides the systems that support service delivery. Data enables councils to understand residents, assets and performance. Cyber resilience protects services and public trust. Digital services are increasingly the primary way residents interact with their council. Together, they form the foundations upon which any new authority will operate. 

They also stitch places together. For example: One of the most overlooked implications of reorganisation is the impact of boundary change. But boundaries are not simply lines on a map. They are also embedded across council systems and data. Property records, waste collection rounds, highways assets, planning applications, customer accounts and social care information are all linked to places and geographies. When boundaries change, the systems and data that support services must change too. 

It’s important also to remember that the challenge is not always one of system failure. Digital readiness extends far beyond moving systems from one organisation to another. More often, systems continue to operate but might be based on assumptions that no longer reflect reality. Data may sit against the wrong geography. Ownership and accountability can become unclear. Processes designed for one organisation may be inherited by another. From the outside everything appears connected, but beneath the surface the foundations are fragmented. Good digital prep is what creates a whole-systems organisation.

Furthermore: Leaders of these new councils need confidence that information is accurate. So they need to know that technology platforms can support the new organisational model, that suppliers can respond to changing requirements and that the workforce has the capability to operate effectively in the new environment. They need to know that access to systems and data remains secure. These are not technical considerations sitting on the edge of the programme. They are fundamental requirements for a council that needs to function from day one. 

Many new authorities will inherit multiple technologies, duplicated processes and fragmented data. Many will focus on surviving vesting day by focusing on a "safe and legal" as the limit of their ambition. Getting through day one matters enormously. But it should be the starting point, not the destination. The real prize lies in simplifying, integrating and modernising what has been brought together. Reorganisation creates a rare opportunity to build stronger foundations, improve services and create a more joined-up experience for residents. 

The authorities that gain the greatest benefit from LGR will be those that use this moment not simply to create a new council, but to build a better one. 

One with stronger data foundations. More resilient technology. Better digital services. Because residents will not judge reorganisation by governance structures or organisational charts. They will judge it by whether services work when they need them. They'll expect to report a missed bin collection, pay council tax, access support as they did the day before. For them, the question is simple: Does the council still work?  

In the end, the most important question is not whether a new authority can be created on vesting day. It is whether it has the digital, data, cyber and technology resources to best operate.