CIPFA chief tells council officers to “get over” reorganisation disputes and focus on delivery

Speaking during a panel discussion at the LLG Spring Conference in Birmingham on Friday (5 June), Owen Mapley said officers and members must accept the Government’s reorganisation decisions and focus on delivering the changes.

He said: "Of course, I get that there is due process, and I'm sure that in some areas there may well indeed be legal challenge or judicial reviews of some of it, but the longer that goes on, and the more that people harbour personal beefs, or 'I don't agree with that'... We've got to get over that.

“Once the decisions are made, and once the challenges are taken, get on and deliver, get over yourself, take your lanyards off, because we all deliver for the people."

His comments come as the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) faces legal threats from at least four councils over reorganisation plans in their respective areas.

There has also been pushback from 16 county councils, who wrote to the Prime Minister last week, urging him to release the Government’s decision-making approach.

The joint letter described reorganisation as a "direct threat" to the sustainability of new councils, and argued the decisions departed from the Government’s statutory criteria.

A MHCLG spokesperson meanwhile said the ministry did not recognise the councils’ analysis.

During the panel discussion – which was titled ‘Leading Through Change: Culture, Conduct and Confidence in Transition & Reorganisation’ – Mapley also said local government must "not lose sight of the fundamentals and not be distracted by everything else going on", in another reference to reorganisation.

Commenting on what CIPFA views as critical for councils to help navigate reorganisation, Mapley added: "There is structural pressure on local government, and there's financial pressures, but when my organisation goes out and does financial resilience reviews of councils, it is also the case – in too many cases – that there are foundational things that either are not in place or are just not good enough."

These include issues around planning, budgeting, collaboration and transformation plans, he said.

He also said councils need a "forensic focus" on data, adding that it is essential to have consistent shared and accurate data among councils undergoing reorganisation.

Elsewhere, Mapley warned that capacity will be a challenge amid LGR, especially in legal and finance departments, stating: "We have to find ways of protecting the capacity that is going to go into working on many of the many of these changes.”

He also made comments on working with members, noting that guidance on the 'golden triangle' issued by SOLACE, CIPGA and LLG in 2025, is “brilliant for sitting down with newly elected officials and helping to explain the legal and professional responsibilities that the monitoring officer, 151 officer and chief exec have”.

He added: “We've got to make sure that we're working with them, but crucially, let's challenge ourselves: Are we showing enough respect for their priorities, for their local democratic mandate, possibly for their ignorance?

“Many of them are brand new to this. Let's not show impatience. Let's work with them and say, how do we partner with you to get up to speed?”

Adam Carey