Restructuring local government does not guarantee cost reduction and may damage citizen engagement, research suggests

Increasing local government size does not guarantee improvements in efficiency, effectiveness, service delivery or cost reduction, according to new research commissioned by the District Councils' Network (DCN).

The report, Bigger Is Still Not Better, also found that district councils play an important role in facilitating cooperation and collaboration with other councils and local partners, and district councils are “vital to social and economic regeneration” and remain a key part of delivering the Government's Levelling Up plan.

The report, written by Professor Colin Copus, Emeritus Professor in Local Politics at De Montfort University, found that there was no 'perfect size' for a council, with there being no evidence that larger authorities delivered better or worse services than smaller sized authorities.

Increasing local government size does not guarantee improvements in efficiency, service delivery or cost reduction. Instead, a greater emphasis on partnership working is needed to ensure the delivery of good public services, it said.

The report also pointed towards a "growing number" of examples of district councils forming partnerships across boundaries to deliver on schemes. It cited a programme in Oxfordshire in which five district councils, the county council, and the Local Enterprise Partnership are working together to attract substantial housing and growth funding and accelerate housing delivery.

In South Essex, a partnership of six district councils and the county council has attracted more than £10m inward investment and facilitated a big advance in broadband connectivity, the DCN research highlighted. In Hertfordshire, the Hertfordshire Growth Board is driving regeneration around the life science and film industries and is coordinating efforts to deliver swift progress toward net-zero across the county.

Cllr Sam Chapman-Allen, Chair of the DCN, said: "As this report demonstrates, there is no perfect size for a local authority and bigger does not always mean better. Convening partners in local communities is a key part of a district councils' DNA and something we urge the Government to continue to support to help deliver their ambition to level up the country.

"This report shows the potential DCN councils have to drive the recovery from the pandemic and to deliver investment in local areas. Through the Towns Fund, Levelling Up Fund and Future High Streets Fund, we're investing almost £1.3bn to transform our local places and create thousands of jobs. We can do this because we know our places, have those local relationships and can deliver efficiently and effectively."

Cllr Chapman-Allen added: "District councils have a vital part to play in delivering for communities across the country. Nowhere is this more apparent than in our response to the pandemic where councils stepped up rapidly and went the extra mile to support our residents and businesses when they needed it the most.

"District councils already deliver so many of the things that are at the heart of the Levelling Up White Paper's twelve missions. We're ambitious to do more. We'll continue working with the Government to ensure districts play a full part and are equal partners in plans to level up the country."

In 2019, the Government set out its criteria for considering local government restructuring proposals. It said that while it "does not support top-down unitary restructuring", it would consider restructuring at the request of councils.

According to the criteria, a proposal for a district council merger would be implemented if it would be likely to:

1. improve the area's local Government;
2. command local support, in particular that the merger is proposed by all councils which are to be merged and there is evidence of a good deal of local support; and
3. the area is a credible geography, consisting of two or more existing local government areas that are adjacent, and which, if established, would not pose an obstacle to locally-led proposals for authorities to combine to serve their communities better and would facilitate joint working between local authorities.

Adam Carey