Written by Claire Harvey, Client Director, Instep UK.
Through my work, I speak with councils across the country on a regular basis. Different places, different contexts but very similar conversations keep coming up.
Despite varied circumstances, most councils are facing shared pressures.
No surprises, digital and data capability is up there, with AI adding pace and uncertainty. Everyone recognises that AI will change how work gets done, but questions remain about what this looks like in practice for councils’ everyday roles, decision‑making and risk.
Ongoing change, including Local Government Reorganisation for some, means leadership attention is often focused on maintaining services and supporting staff through uncertainty. This makes longer‑term workforce and skills planning harder to prioritise. The impact of leadership churn, particularly interim arrangements, is also raised frequently, especially in terms of continuity and momentum.
Much of the sector’s experience sits with long‑serving colleagues, with a significant amount of organisational knowledge held within this group. Alongside this, there is growing concern about how learning, expertise and organisational memory are retained and passed on as people retire or move on, particularly after repeated restructures and redeployments, something increasingly referred to as a ticking time bomb.
And poor middle managers sit at the centre this pressure. Expectations have increased, support functions have reduced, and managers are being asked to lead people through ongoing change in increasingly complex systems. The removal of funded leadership and management development routes has left a significant gap at a time when the demand for strong leadership capability is increasing – particularly as there is little or no commercial budget available.
None of this is easy. Many people across local government are carrying huge responsibility, often with less capacity, fewer development routes and more uncertainty than in the past. I have a lot of admiration and empathy for those navigating this while continuing to deliver vital services for residents.
What often gets less airtime is the scale of innovative and thoughtful work happening up and down the country despite these constraints. Every week I see practical problem‑solving, quiet leadership and creative approaches that remind me why I enjoy working in this sector.
My aim is to work alongside councils as an extension of their teams, helping to think through challenges and open up strategic and creative options that make sense for the realities they are operating in. Not one‑size‑fits‑all solutions, and not adding further burden, but practical support that helps people make progress where they are, while learning from one another and building on the good work already happening.
