by Paul O'Brien
Sunday 02 December 2007
On my way back from Southampton yesterday I stopped in London to visit DCLG to discuss with them the up and coming reorganisation of English local government and what the practical implications would be.
The civil servants are currently developing guidance on staffing matters and whilst they have been inundated with legal advice they were looking for the experience of someone who had lived through a local government reorganisation and survived, that's were I came in.
My adventures relate to the reorganisation of Scottish local government in the mid nineties and I spent over two hours discussing my recollections of what it was like and answering questions about the appeals, disputes, structures, harmonisation, culture and lessons I had painfully learned.
I think it was useful for them to get away from the theoretical and engage with the reality and if this helps in anyway to shape the guidance on staffing matters that will be issued in January then it was worth diverting to London for a few hours.
