Procurement’s role in Local Government Reorganisation

Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) is now well underway across England, and councils are actively navigating the realities of transition and transformation. As councils merge into new unitary authorities, procurement and contract management will play a key role in supporting continuity and oversight of services, maintaining legal compliance, and will help to provide visibility over inherited contracts. These fundamental functions will support the alignment and rationalisation of services, helping councils reduce duplication, achieve efficiencies, and redesign delivery models. With the introduction of the Procurement Act 2023 in February 2025, procurement also plays an increasingly strategic role linking commercial planning with organisational change and helping new authorities build resilient, future-ready operating models. 

According to a 2025 article from Trowers & Hamlins, LGR is progressing in parallel with the Procurement Act 2023 (PA23), creating a combined shift that is redefining how local authorities approach commercial strategy, procurement pipelines, and supplier engagement. Rather than being treated as a standalone function, procurement is now embedded within wider organisational change and service redesign.  

At the same time, a 2025 article from Local Government Lawyer reinforces that contracts have continued to transfer into new or emerging unitary structures rather than falling away during reorganisation. This is likely to result in many councils inheriting complex portfolios of agreements, which may often involve multiple suppliers delivering similar services across previously separate authorities.  

This ongoing reality is driving both operational pressure and strategic opportunity. Councils are actively working through challenges such as duplication, inconsistent service models, and legacy systems, while also identifying opportunities to rationalise contracts and improve long-term value. The emphasis has shifted to how effectively authorities can integrate and streamline what they have inherited.  

Trowers & Hamlins (2025) highlights that PA23 requirements for increased transparency and forward planning are already influencing how councils manage procurement activity. Authorities are increasingly expected to coordinate pipelines across future geographies, aligning procurement decisions with LGR milestones, and engaging more collaboratively with neighbouring councils to avoid fragmented approaches.  

Councils are currently making practical decisions about their commercial strategies and balancing contract extensions, re-procurement, and service redesign in a live operating environment. According to Trowers & Hamlins (2025), navigating “safe harbour” provisions under procurement legislation has become a key consideration in managing this balance compliantly.  

Looking beyond vesting, the transformation phase is also in motion. Authorities are actively integrating systems, consolidating supply chains, and standardising delivery models. This requires robust contract management, clear visibility across contract portfolios, and strong collaboration between procurement, legal, and operational teams.  

The sector is moving well into an implementation phase where informed, proactive decision-making is critical. Councils are maintaining clear oversight of their contracts, aligning procurement activity to future operating models, and embedding flexibility into current agreements to support ongoing change. 

How Procurement Services can support 

We support local authorities at every stage of the LGR journey with compliant, flexible solutions aligned to both legacy and new regulatory frameworks. 

We offer a suite of procurement frameworks under both the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR15) and the Procurement Act 2023, enabling authorities to undertake compliant, efficient procurements that reflect their evolving structures and priorities. 

And our contract management solutions allow us to work in partnership with existing procurement and contract management teams to strengthen oversight during transition, including contract registers and data validation, milestone and risk tracking, supplier performance monitoring, and governance that gives authorities clear visibility of key obligations, dependencies and decisions.  

Our procurement teams can provide practical LGR transition support across contract mobilisation and rationalisation, helping authorities review inherited arrangements, align terms and service models where appropriate, plan novation's and handovers, and maintain supplier continuity while protecting compliance and service delivery.  

Navigating LGR? Let’s talk about how we can help you bring control, clarity, and confidence to your procurement and contract management. 

Contact us on pscustomerenquiries@csltd.org.uk