Join us for the second webinar in our 2026 series looking at Local Government Reorganisation (LGR).

In this webinar we will start to explore some of the practical issues you may need to address as you prepare for LGR. 

Most authorities are still waiting for the final decision on their new boundaries, so this period presents a valuable opportunity to carry out preparatory work and thinking before LGR planning kicks off in earnest.

This webinar will take a “learning set” approach where we air questions and issues together and hopefully start to identify some key areas you may need to work on. 

We will hear from:

• Mark Stevens, County Archivist, Royal Berkshire Archives

Mark will explore how the old county archive service positioned itself as the sole repository for the Berkshire unitaries after their LGR in 1998. How was the case made not to split the collections, and to maintain a single service across the six new unitary authorities?

•  Russell Allen, Head of Libraries, Heritage and Adult Learning, West Sussex Council 

Russell will consider how he is starting to plan for sustainable library services within different potential scenarios. He will share some of the questions he is starting to address and the types of information and data being collated. 

Following our speakers, there will be a group discussion. We will invite attendees to share their emerging approaches and their questions. We hope the discussions will help inform further work on our LGR guidance and the topic for the next webinars.

Please note that this webinar will be recorded. If you would like to receive the recording but can’t make the webinar itself, please still sign up.