Spotlight: Bridging the expectations gap – building financially stable and community powered unitary councils

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As new unitary councils come into being, many will face immediate expectation to deliver cost savings from day one. Yet the reality of transformation, integration and service redesign is more complex.  How can councils navigate the tension between financial pressures and the need to build institutions that are locally responsive, collaborative and capable of unlocking assets and ideas of their communities?

During this session we will discuss practical approaches to creating the conditions for long-term sustainability, including new models of delivery, partnership and ownership. Local Authority Trading Companies (LATCos) and other innovative vehicles may have a role to play in bridging the gap between fiscal constraints and community ambition, provided they are grounded in genuine participation, shared purpose and an asset-based approach.

We’ll follow up on conversations from our recent roundtable discussion and give you the opportunity to share learning. Together we will consider the practical approaches councils can take to design structures that not only meet financial challenges but also embed community power at their core, moving from cost-cutting to co-creation, and from short term drives for efficiency to long term shifts to prevention.

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