As you read this there will be local elections across the UK. For those newly elected, their role will be more challenging than ever before. This is not just because of financial cuts, but because public service reform has changed the role over the last decade. In an increasingly marketised sector, the growth of new delivery models, commissioning, and shared services have had a kaleidoscopic effect on the role of local councillors and altered the support members require from officers.

The traditional councillor role of representing constituents, championing causes, and attending committees will continue, as will the hurly-burly of local party politics. But the days when all services were provided by in-house council staff are gone. Instead, a single council may now have many delivery methods – a long-term contract for highways, council-owned companies for adult services and school improvement, a trust for children's services, and a shared service with another council for back office support.