Glossary of terms

Aggregation: 

the process of combining data, resources, services or functions from multiple councils into a new authority. 

Devolution: 

the transfer of powers and funding from national to local government. It means decisions are made closer to the local people, communities, and businesses they affect.   

Disaggregation: 

the process of separating and redistributing services, functions, resources and data into the new authorities.  

Implementation Delivery Group: 

leads programme coordination and delivery across councils. 

Implementation team: 

responsible for coordinating and managing the work needed to create the new councils and support the transition. 

Joint committee: 

a group of representatives from existing councils who work together to oversee planning and preparations during the transition period. 

Judicial Review: 

legal process where a court reviews whether a decision made by a public body has been made lawfully. 

LGR: 

Local Government Reorganisation  

Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG): 

the government department responsible for local government reorganisation and devolution.  

No regrets activity: 

work focused on getting our house in order now while preparing for the future, regardless of the final LGR decision. 

PMO (Portfolio Management Office): 

responsible for governance, planning, reporting, assurance, risk management and delivery support across the LGR portfolio. 

Portfolio: 

collection of programmes and projects managed together to achieve strategic objectives. 

Predecessor/sovereign councils: 

the current local authorities. 

Programme: 

group of related projects and activities managed in a coordinated way to achieve outcomes and benefits that could not be delivered individually. 

Programme boards: 

deliver outputs, milestones and implementation activity. 

Project: 

temporary piece of work undertaken to create a specific deliverable, output or outcome within a defined timeframe. 

Senior Responsible Officer (SRO): 

accountable for a programme or project meeting its objectives, delivering outcomes and realising benefits. The SRO for devolution and local government reorganisation in Nottinghamshire is Adrian Smith, Chief Executive of Nottinghamshire County Council. 

Strategic Implementation Board (SIB): 

sets strategic leadership and direction for the LGR programme. Supports collective leadership and decision-making across councils. 

Shadow authority: 

a temporary council established to carry out the functions of the council until that authority formally comes into effect on vesting day. 

Structural Changes Order (SCO): 

statutory legal order issued by government that establishes the new council arrangements and implementation requirements. 

Successor councils: 

the new unitary councils. 

Taxonomy: 

classification/categorisation. Service taxonomy is a structured classification and hierarchy of council services used to create a consistent view of service delivery across all authorities. 

Two-tier authority: 

where county councils provide services that cover the whole county (like education, waste disposal and adult social care) and district/borough councils provide services for their borough/district area (like refuse collection, environmental health and leisure facilities).   

Unitary authority: 

single-tier council responsible for delivering all local government services in an area, including social care, education, highways, waste, planning and housing, for example Nottingham City Council. 

Vesting Day: 

the date when the new unitary councils will start to operate officially. 

Workstream: 

major area of activity within a programme, usually aligned to a theme of activities within the programme plan. A workstream can include multiple projects.