The Head Start pathway for council reorganisation proposals closed on 9 August. Cabinet reviews proposals through to a final decision in May 2027, and councils in proposed groupings will need to explain the change to their communities before then.
For councils in proposed groupings, that leaves roughly eight months to explain what a combined entity actually looks like — to residents, to elected members, and to each other.
Why the next eight months matter
Consultation only works when people can see the picture. A merger proposal that can’t show how the combined area compares — across the economy, housing, health and infrastructure — invites the question every community asks first: what changes for us?
Councils have roughly eight months to explain what a combined entity looks like across economic, social, health, infrastructure and demographic indicators.
What a combined entity needs to explain
At a minimum, five lenses: economic, social, health, infrastructure and demographic. Each needs the same definitions for every district in the grouping — otherwise a comparison isn’t a comparison.
Telling one consistent story
Community Pulse gives councils consistent definitions across all 13 themes for every territorial authority — so you can benchmark and combine districts in hours, not weeks of manual analyst work.
Where to start
Start with the free national summary layer to see every council on the same definitions. When you need area-level detail, the detailed layer and the AI layer go further — and our team can walk you through it on your own area.