The staffing impact of LGR

Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) will have significant employment law implications as councils come together.

In our experience, it is vital that the people impact of LGR is properly planned at an early stage pre pre-vesting day (when the new council will come into existence) and that adequate resources are set aside to enable this to happen well. The cultural impact of LGR should also not be underestimated, as staff are vital to creating the right culture, so this should also be an early part of planning for LGR.

Key employment law considerations

Key issues to be considered from an employment law perspective are:

• The recruitment and appointment of the Golden Triangle statutory officers for the new single-tier authority, with the requisite governance processes being followed to achieve these appointments. We explain in more detail below the specific rules when it comes to the appointment of a head of paid service/chief executive for the new authority, which, following good practice, should be the first permanent appointment that is made.

• There may well be the need for interim appointments to the Golden Triangle statutory officer roles and in our experience, the Structural Changes Order establishing a new single-tier authority will require the shadow authority, pre-vesting day, to designate an interim head of paid service, monitoring officer and chief finance officer at its first meeting.

• Consideration needs to be given at an early stage to the timing of officer appointments to the new authority. Our recommendation would be to ensure that, as a minimum, the Golden Triangle statutory officers and other Chief officers are recruited pre-vesting day, with planning then being undertaken as to the roles that will sit beneath them and those appointed being an integral part of shaping the teams that will sit beneath them.

• The new authority needs to be in dialogue with the Faculty of Public Health and the Secretary of State for Health’s regional representative if any changes are proposed to the director of public health role.

• Following TUPE information and consultation obligations pre-transfer. The new authority will need to be clear on any changes to working arrangements it intends to put in place post vesting day.

• Ensuring that any redundancy processes followed once the new authority is in place are fair to staff from all of the constituent authorities who have transferred into the new authority.

• Considering what needs to be done from a pensions perspective to maintain access to the Local Government Pension Scheme for transferring employees.

Practical steps

It is critical that all the councils that will form part of the new single-tier authority work well together in the period up to vesting day. Problems set in where each authority seeks to protect its own position as opposed to thinking ahead to how they want the unitary authority to function.

There needs to be really good and consistent communication with employees within each of the councils before vesting day. In practice, this needs to be a joint effort between all entities involved in the reorganisation.

Working well with the recognised trade unions to make sure that the reorganisation runs smoothly is also clearly very important.

Chief executive/head of paid service appointment

The Local Authorities (Standing Orders) Regulations 1993, as amended by The Local Government (Structural and Boundary Changes) (Staffing) Regulations 2008, require the new single-tier authority (whether a new entity or an existing council which is to become the new unitary authority) to openly advertise the head of paid service post. The rationale for this centres on the new single-tier authority being a fresh start for local government in the area, which is emphasised in guidance the Government issued on staffing issues in respect of local government restructuring back in June 2008 (the Guidance).

The new single-tier authority will need to draw up a statement specifying the duties of the head of paid service and any qualifications or qualities that the person appointed must have.

The post must be advertised in such a way as to bring it to the attention of people who are qualified to apply for it. Open competition means openly advertising the role so that anyone can apply; for example, in the national press or the local Government trade press. External candidates can apply as well as those currently employed within the authorities that will be abolished as part of the process of establishing the single-tier authority.

Shortlisting will then need to take place and shortlisted candidates interviewed or all qualified applicants for the post must be interviewed.

Interviews need to be member-led and the appointment of the head of paid service needs to be a decision for the full council.

The precise arrangements in terms of member involvement in the appointment process will need to be in line with the constitution of the new single-tier authority.

If no qualified person applies for the head of paid service role, then it will need to be readvertised.

We would encourage new single-tier authorities to begin the Head of Paid Service recruitment process pre-vesting day and as detailed above, to have this as the first step taken in putting together the staffing structure for the new authority. In our experience, making this appointment early is helpful in providing leadership in terms of all that needs to be done before vesting day.

The Guidance does envisage circumstances where the new single-tier authority makes a temporary head of paid service appointment not through open competition, but this would need to be followed by a fresh appointment through open competition.

For more information

For more information, please contact Matthew Gregson or visit our local government reorganisation (LGR) hub.