About This Project
New district councils: Action Research Set
In the current complex and rapidly changing environment, good practice is often out of date before it is written. Our clients no longer want dead good practice. They want live good practice. In this context the LGA wanted to enable district councils to work with colleagues who were addressing similar issues at the same time so that they could learn together as they went.
Action research provided a framework for doing this in a way that also captured wider learning for the sector. It enabled collaboration in real time between organisations addressing a similar issue or task by bringing together peers from those organisations to exchange ideas and experiences, identify what worked well, and determine what worked less well.
We were commissioned by the LGA to facilitate this action research with chief executives from councils merging to create new, larger district councils. The learning set, which brought together chiefs from six groups of councils, met five times.
The action research set provided an opportunity for three types of conversation:
- An exchange of practical lessons and experience, including working with civil servants;
- An exploration of significant issues and themes that emerged;
- Identifying lessons that could be of value to the wider local government sector.
Three themes that featured prominently in the discussions included:
- The importance of leap-frogging a focus on mergers to concentrate on the creation of a new council covering a different, wider geography;
- The role of members in leading the process across the councils concerned;
- The opportunity presented by the creation of a new council to re-think the role of councillors.
A lessons note was prepared, and an event for leaders and deputy leaders was organised.