Building the new organisation
Reorganisation, mergers and shared services.
Three hours on building the new organisation: the evidence on reorganisation, English LGR and Wales's path, Avanti's five phases, shared services and mergers.
- Level
- Focus
- Learning time
- 3 hours
- Where
- Leading through Reorganisation, Mergers and Shared Services
- Price
- £69
When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Read the full terms
Certificate of Completion, or Certificate of Completion and Assessment with a short assessment
Overview and Outcomes.
Who It's For
Leaders preparing for local government reorganisation, shared services or mergers
Overview
Reorganisation is back at the centre of public service, and changing a chart is not the same as changing an organisation. This programme sets out why organisations reorganise and what the evidence, including the National Audit Office's, says about whether it works. It explores English local government reorganisation as it stood in September 2026, alongside Wales's different path, then Avanti's five phases from district into unitary, drawing on Huish and Milliner. It goes on to shared services, from the Gershon Review to the Tri-borough, and to mergers in housing, charities and health, where the reason must be settled before the method.
Aims
This programme aims to develop leaders who can shape structural change with purpose, meaning, people and politics held together. It is for those leading or preparing for reorganisation, shared services or mergers who want to choose the right form of change, lead through uncertainty and avoid mistaking a new structure for a new organisation.
In summary, you will be able to:
- Explain the drivers and forms of structural change, and assess what the evidence suggests about whether reorganisation delivers its intended benefits.
- Apply Avanti's five phases of transition to plan a move from district into unitary, including the realities of dual delivery and leading through uncertainty.
- Compare shared service models and merger approaches, and judge how much integration, governance and local accountability a given arrangement needs.
What you'll develop
Through this Focus course, you will build the ability to:
- Explain the five drivers of structural change and what the National Audit Office evidence says about whether reorganisations deliver.
- Distinguish what a new structure changes on day one from the culture, trust and habits that travel with people into the new organisation.
- Describe the types of local authority in England and the main steps in the reorganisation programme up to the September 2026 pause.
- Describe Huish and Milliner's five phases of transition from district into unitary and the leadership demands of each.
- Identify the six models of shared services and place a partnership on the seven degrees of working with others.
- Use Haspeslagh and Jemison's model to distinguish absorption, symbiosis, preservation and holding, and to choose an integration approach.
Built from 2 parts.
3 hours of learning.
- 01From district to unitaryLocal government reorganisation in EnglandBitesize3 modules
- 02Joining forces wiselyShared services and public sector mergersBitesize2 modules
Keep going.
Part of the Leading through Reorganisation, Mergers and Shared Services topic, also sold whole as Rebuilding together.
Go deeper, and pay only the difference
- You are hereFocus, 3 hours, £69
- The whole topicExplore, Rebuilding together, 5 hours 30 minutes, £129. Already own the Focus? You pay £60.
When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Prices per person. Read the full terms
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