As a recent report by UKAuthority confirms, the success of local government reorganisation (LGR) will be hugely influenced by the decisions made regarding digital, data and technology (DDaT). In an ideal world, the new unitary will make technology decisions sooner rather than later. Service continuity is a vital aspect of the consolidation process, especially for regulatory services. Both staff and citizen confidence depends upon a clear strategy, as well as consistent access to systems and information. System stability, data integrity and service continuity are non-negotiable. Dave Hall, Head of Sales, Land, Property & Public Protection, explains the importance of a pragmatic approach to LGR that prioritises stability, data quality and knowledge capture to ensure regulatory services continuity.

Leverage past experience

While it is tempting to consider LGR as an opportunity to embrace, even accelerate, digital transformation, LGR timescales provide little if any leeway for this level of innovation. For the IT team, the need to consolidate significant numbers of systems, reduce vendor numbers, and overhaul infrastructure will prompt important conversations regarding cloud strategies and data centre investments. It will raise opportunities to reconsider licensing and support contracts.

There is, however, an enormous difference between opting to consolidate on one of the systems currently in use within one or more planning teams, for example, and going out to tender for a new system that must, by default, meet the complex and diverse expectations for innovation and change demanded by the user base.

Indeed, previous experience of local authority consolidation has proved the importance of a strategy that prioritises stabilisation over transformation. As successful unitary councils such as Somerset Council have discovered, this phase of the consolidation is about a migration strategy that ensures consistent systems and processes are in place on vesting day to provide a seamless reorganisation experience for both staff and citizens. Having initially brought all gazetteer systems together under a single Idox iManage hosted desktop platform for vesting day in 2023, following a period of stability, the Council took the next step by migrating to iManage Cloud, Idox’s powerful, browser-based gazetteer management system, to further enhance service delivery.

Nominate the lead authority

While there are a number of key technology infrastructure and strategy issues that must be addressed by the IT team, time is short, and decisions regarding the lead authority for each department must be made quickly. This is especially important for regulatory services where the specific demands of continuity of access to case data, confidence in statutory decision making and trusted workflows are a vital foundation for services that cannot afford any interruption.  

Assessing the performance of each authority provides a good indication of the most suitable technology platform for the consolidated service function. Successful service delivery is typically closely aligned with effective technology deployment, combining mobile working with citizen access, for example, as well as good quality data. 

The decision regarding the future technology platform will also be influenced by the ability of the system to scale to support the new authority, and, potentially, the chance to consolidate on one technology platform to support all regulatory services, from planning to licensing, to enable process standardisation and cross-service information sharing. A good understanding of the full cost landscape, with a holistic view of licensing, support and transition costs, will also help authorities avoid duplication and plan more effectively for long-term value. 

Allocating a central governance lead authority status will also inform the best practice service model for the new authority and this process provides an essential opportunity to capture the knowledge of experienced individuals.  Working with vendors now to conduct a simple review of current processes and a technology health check can support an improvement programme that will put the authority in a stronger position when determining the lead authority status.

Consider the data strategy

This is also an important time to consider the quality of the data. In reality, merging systems and creating a single system for what was four or five previous councils is an achievable objective. There are processes to agree and documentation to create but expanding the system already in use at one or more joining councils at the lead council across the new domain is possible and relatively straightforward. With one proviso: the state of the data. 

Even if all councils are using the same system for planning, for example, there is a lot of work required to merge the data in a consistent way to create a master system. Taking this ‘pre-migration’ opportunity to cleanse data to improve consistency and quality is enormously valuable and will significantly ease the eventual system consolidation process.

Data cleansing can be accelerated through the use of data management tools which leverage rule setting to delete or redact data. Used in tandem with clearly defined data retention policies, in line with regulations such as GDPR and department specific requirements, the process both improves data quality and removes large quantities of unnecessarily retained data. For example, while planning applications must be permanently retained, it is only the application approval and terms and conditions required not data heavy maps and drawings. A robust data cleanse project reduces the storage burden and significantly eases system migration. 

Create a consistent gazetteer

Data accuracy is imperative. Data migration is the most complex aspect of system consolidation – the process of data cleansing not only transforms this process but is also a significant opportunity to reduce volumes and hence cost.

An important aspect of the successful transition for Somerset Council was a commitment to consolidating address data. In addition to prioritising the creation of a single, high-quality and fully integrated Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) and Local Street Gazetteer (LSG), the new Council took the opportunity to enhance data quality from the ground up and worked closely with both Idox and GeoPlace to ensure the consolidated gazetteer was robust, accurate, and ready to go live by vesting day.

As Adam Rhymer, GIS Lead at Somerset Council, confirmed, “We were quite fortunate to be among the first to go through reorganisation. But the timeline is tight with just 18 months to bring everything together. There’s a huge amount to do and getting your LLPG and LSG onto a single platform early on is absolutely essential. These datasets are the backbone of so many council services.”

Two years later, when the Council decided to take the next step in its digital transformation, the robust data foundation contributed to a smooth migration process which took just two weeks end to end, with no disruption to back-office systems, no reimports required, and no unexpected costs.

Conclusion: build stable foundations

LGR represents a significant change for people, process and technology. But while each new unitary has its own specific challenges and issues to consider, local government consolidation is not new. This process has been undertaken by a number of authorities in recent years, and there are significant lessons to be understood, not least the importance of working closely with trusted, experienced partners:

• Leverage expertise and rapidly allocate a central governance lead.  lead authority. This process defines the choice of underpinning technology and provides staff with a clear strategy and understanding of the process. Proactively capturing the knowledge of subject matter experts across all joining authorities can ensure a best practice model that reflects any different local requirements.
• Stable systems are a priority for vesting day. In addition to supporting consistent service delivery, the successful evolution to a single system across each area of operation delivers immediate financial gains by avoiding expensive licence extensions with other suppliers.
• Data accuracy is imperative. Data migration the most complex aspect of system consolidation – the process of data cleansing not only transforms this process but is also a significant opportunity to reduce volumes and hence cost.

Post vesting day, with a consolidated system and operational stability, the new authority has a fantastic building block for the next phase of innovation and transformation.  Data should be clean, accurate and trusted. Merged teams will have embraced standardised processes. New opportunities and challenges will have been identified. And, of course, technology innovation will have continued. It is at this point that authorities will be perfectly placed to understand the new requirements and work with trusted vendors to take the next step in improving processes and delivery throughout regulatory services.

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