According to the Local Government Information Unit, just 10% of senior council officials feel sufficiently involved in early-stage devolution planning, with 20% claiming proposed timescales are unworkable.
Whitehall might have been swayed by structural and systemic proposals, but the people responsible for delivering success on the ground have not.
People matter
Transformation teams have largely focused on data audits and systems rationalisation. Though undoubtedly critical, this must not come at the expense of the most significant asset: people.
Staff resistance, unclear expectations and poor communication frequently undermine transformation. While shared structures can be mandated, shared purpose cannot.
When employees fail to understand why new authorities are being formed, how their roles will evolve and what new organisations stand for, they instinctively revert to old processes and informal databases. This reproduces operational silos that slow service further, compromising the benefits promised by reform. Public trust then splinters, with vulnerable residents feeling the impact. Once public confidence erodes, it’s difficult to win back.
The unifying story
Staff across merging councils bring with them different histories, priorities, anxieties and political traditions. Some see reorganisation as a reset after years of cuts; others experience it as the loss of a long-held identity. The Shadow Authority must create a narrative that acknowledges tensions honestly while offering a compelling vision of the future. This means:
- Explaining the ‘why’, not just the ‘what’: placing residents, not ministerial ambitions, at the centre of reform;
- Setting clear, non-negotiable values and behaviours that define how decisions will be made and what ‘one-team’ collaboration looks like;
- Clarifying future accountabilities early, even if some details remain provisional. Ambiguity is a breeding ground for anxiety; clarity creates space for trust.
Cohesion in practice
Where cultural alignment is prioritised, the benefits are striking. When Dorset’s five councils merged in 2019, its housing service deliberately built a culture of continuous improvement alongside the implementation of new systems. Leaders invested in digital confidence, collaboration and staff-led process redesign. Teams became empowered to tweak workflows and champion data-driven decision making, creating more consistent outcomes for residents and a workforce that believed in these changes. This is the real work of cultural alignment: not just imposition of change but an environment where people feel they have a stake in shaping the future.
What leaders can do before vesting day
For councils in the Shadow Authority phase, there’s still time to shift from competing cultures to a single, confident team. The key is to map cultural reality, assessing the teams being merged as well as their technologies.
Of course, interim statutory officers will need shared terms of reference, visible political backing and consistent messaging, too. When new ways of working are co-designed by frontline teams and middle managers, it lets people know their experience still matters and that the new council is being built with them – rather than being enforced.
Finally, communication must remain relentless. By defining the day-one customer experience across digital and in-person channels now, everyone gains a shared sense of direction.
The actions taken during the Shadow Authority phase will decide whether councils enter vesting day as a functioning authority or a loose collection of legacy teams struggling with the same problems under a new banner.