Issue - meetings

Background:

The report set out, in broad terms, the additional resources that the Council would need to support delivery of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR). It also sought delegated authority for the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader, to allocate resources on the basis of individual business cases, requesting the need for resource developed by senior managers with relevant Director approval. A template (working draft) setting out the application process had been considered by the LGR Officer Working Group held on 29 April 2026 and was attached as Appendix 1 to the report for reference.

Reasons:

Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) is the biggest shake up of Local Government in England in almost 50 years and presents a once in generation opportunity to transform local government and improve services for residents. This report seeks to ensure that Medway Council has sufficient and appropriate resource to progress LGR and the associated disaggregation and aggregation work. As well as sufficient capacity and expertise to meet the demands made by the county-wide PMO, whilst at the same time continuing to deliver excellent services for the people of Medway.

However, significant work will be required to support the work of the PMO across the region. Delivery of Local Government Reorganisation across Kent and Medway will be led by the county-wide Programme Management Office (PMO) established and overseen by the Kent Local Authority Chief Executives’ group.  However, the PMO is expected to make significant demands on the officers of Medway Council and the thirteen other local authorities representing Kent and Medway. None of the authorities have the latent capacity in house to meet this demand.

In Medway, the Council’s ambition is not solely to achieve statutory ‘safe and legal’ implementation arrangements, but to deliver ‘safe and legal plus’ through a transition and delivery process that enables at-scale-transformation, and service redesign to improve resident outcomes and deliver impact. For example - it presents new opportunities to deliver greater strategic integration across a new geography, innovation and investment in digital systems and AI, improved long-term infrastructure and regeneration planning, and opportunities to build more resilient and efficient operating models.

Realising these opportunities will require dedicated programme and transformation capacity in addition to maintaining the high standards of service delivery that our residents have come to rightly expect.