13 Jul 2026
Reflections from our Chief Executive
Last week I travelled to Bournemouth with RSN Assistant Chief Executive Nadine Trout for the LGA Conference and 3 full on days of learning and making links across organisations.
It was fantastic to meet so many of our member organisations in person and hear about the challenges that they face delivering services to sparsely populated areas, along with their successes and areas where work is going well.
The Chair of the RSN, Councillor Roger Phillips OBE led a session with RSN members where we highlighted our recent campaigning work with Delivering for All and set out our current research project into the additional costs of Remoteness and Accessibility in relation to delivering services for rural areas.
Finance teams should have received information at the end of last week about this next stage of the research.
In between dashing to plenary sessions, and the innovation zone, and talking non stop in the exhibition hall, it is important to take some time to reflect on the key messages coming out of the conference, and here is my take on it!
Change – Many local authorities are in a state of flux, either preparing for new unitary councils and spending their time working out how to merge services, or divide them, or awaiting results of reorganisation this week.
And there were many sessions at the conference on the practicalities of delivering this from those that had already experienced the process, sharing their battle scars and also positive lessons that they had learned.
What struck me though in all of this, was the challenge that councils also face in maintaining business as usual for their residents and communities. The Rt Hon Steve Reed MP addressed the conference and spoke fairly simply about the need to remove duplication by getting rid of county and district councils, as though they both delivered the same services and it was an easy activity to do.
Change is not new for local authorities as they are constantly adapting to different situations and ways of delivering services. However, the coming months and years will be particularly tough for those Officers and Members in councils going through the LGR process, but the determination, from those that I spoke to, to keep delivering what matters to their residents was inspiring.
Place Based – Devolution was a theme being discussed at the conference too, especially with the change of Prime Minister on the horizon. We know that Andy Burnham MP is focused on delivering the devolution agenda, and from a rural perspective we have to take this as an opportunity. We have long campaigned against a one size fits all approach to policy for rural communities, so that decisions are made that suit local areas.
We must now seize this opportunity to develop a level of strategic governance that will make the right decisions for local areas including our rural communities. However in all the talk of moving forward with devolution, and the powers and funding that Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MSA) have, we must remember that not everywhere has got to this stage yet. Many rural areas are not within existing MSA and we don’t want them to be left behind. It’s a positive step that MSA have the power to shape their local areas and grow their economies, but let’s not forget the potential of the rural economy which may not be within an MSA yet, and still needs intervention to reach its full potential.
Learning – the final theme of the conference for me was about learning. We learned about products and services that can make life easier for councils to deliver services more effectively. More than that, we also learned from each other. Councils that had gone through the process of LGR already are a fantastic source of information and learning for councils about to go through the process. I learned plenty from talking to other organisations while in the queue for the gelato to keep cool and I know others did too!
However, with around 120 councils serving rural communities it was slightly disappointing to only see one session on the entire agenda expressly touching on issues relating to rural councils, when we know that learning from our peers is so critical.
At our dedicated closed session for RSN members, they were able to share their own experiences which are similar, whether they be in Rutland or West Lindsey and it was fantastic to be able to facilitate this.
Moving forward I hope that we can build on the experiences shared at the LGA Conference, and continue to learn not just from all other councils, but also from those that are most similar to ourselves.
Overall for me, it was a great conference, the sun was shining and despite the challenges ahead there was a sense of optimism amongst attendees that we have an opportunity to get things right for our residents moving forward, and at the end of the day, that is what we are all aiming for.
– Kerry Booth, Chief Executive, Rural Services Network
