Reorganisation that works: The digital priorities that will shape England’s new authorities

The benefits commonly associated with Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) in England are well documented: improved financial sustainability, better integrated public services, greater opportunities for devolution, enhanced efficiency, and the potential to drive local economic growth.

At Jadu, we work with councils across all tiers of local government, and many of our customers are navigating, or preparing for, the transition to new unitary authorities. We’ve been considering the impact LGR will have on their service delivery and, more importantly, how we can help councils as they transition to a unitary model at pace.

Our approach focuses on enabling enhanced digital transformation and innovation that reorganisation makes possible. Here are some of my recommendations to English Councils:

Reduce siloed legacy systems 

Local government reorganisation creates a unique, once-in-a-generation opportunity to tackle system fragmentation that has built up over the last few decades. Councils often operate hundreds of systems in silo, with few able to communicate with each other. This complexity makes service transformation slow, expensive, and difficult to sustain. Jadu enables new unitary authorities to consolidate their digital estate from day one. By replacing multiple disconnected platforms with integrated solutions, councils can eliminate duplication, reduce technical debt, and build services that genuinely improve the resident experience.

Move to modern, cloud infrastructure

The transition to unitary authorities is the perfect moment to move from outdated on-premise infrastructure to modern cloud solutions such as the Jadu Digital Platform. Jadu's cloud-native solutions eliminate costly on-premises servers, provide automatic platform updates, enhance security, and deliver the scalability that larger organisations with diverse needs require. For Councils facing tight deadlines and high public expectations, this means reduced implementation risk, enables faster deployment, and provides the flexibility to support modern hybrid working without significant capital investment.

Automate processes to create real efficiencies  

Automation is critical to achieving the efficiency savings underpinning reorganisation business cases. Using Jadu’s workflow and automation tools, councils can streamline labour-intensive manual processes, freeing staff to focus on cases where human expertise adds the most value. From robotic process automation to intelligent workflow management, early adopters are already demonstrating measurable improvements in processing times, accuracy, and staff satisfaction, all of which contribute to a more sustainable operating model for the new authority.

Introduce AI responsibly, with the appropriate guardrails  

AI offers transformative potential when implemented responsibly. Jadu's approach prioritises ethical deployment with clear guardrails, ensuring algorithms are explainable, decisions are auditable, and bias is actively mitigated. From AI-powered search to intelligent chatbots, our solutions enhance rather than replace human service delivery, building future-ready services that residents trust, staff can use confidently, and which deliver sizable savings. Agent-Ex: Search leverages AI content indexing to transform traditional website search into an intelligent experience. It understands natural language queries, retrieves precise answers, and responds in a tone that’s clear, inclusive, and accessible for every user. It's voice-activated, supports over 70 languages, and is platform-agnostic, working across any web CMS. Agent-Ex: Search can reduce contact centre demand by up to 40% for low-complexity queries, creating the vital savings intended by LGR.

Improve the data flow through system integration 

For new unitary authorities inheriting data from multiple predecessor councils, effective integration is the difference between perpetuating silos and creating genuinely unified services that deliver better outcomes for residents.

Fragmented data creates inefficiency and poor resident experiences. Jadu's integration-first approach ensures data flows seamlessly across organisations through open APIs and adherence to sector standards. 

Create savings through contract rationalisation

Reorganisation inevitably reveals contract duplication and overlapping vendor relationships, with multiple councils paying separately for similar or the same services. Consolidating platforms can generate significant financial savings through reduced licensing costs and cutting the administrative burden of managing multiple suppliers. Jadu supports rationalisation by providing consolidated platforms that replace multiple vendor relationships with streamlined solutions, reducing both direct software costs and hidden expenses like procurement administration, delivering millions in recurring savings that can be reinvested in frontline services.

Deliver accessible, intuitive digital services

Complex systems frustrate residents and colleagues alike, increasing avoidable contact centre demand, eroding trust and reducing satisfaction. Jadu's solutions, such as Digital Platform Lite, feature intuitive interfaces that work seamlessly across devices, meet WCAG accessibility standards, and require minimal in-house training. For residents, this means finding information quickly and accessing services 24/7. For new unitary authorities, user experience is one of the quickest ways to demonstrate that reorganisation is delivering better services - not just structural change.