The aftermath of the elections is upon us, member induction has started and a lot of new councillors are seeking to change the ‘world' (or at least their wards). Different political balances or changes in political leadership mean that the role of chief executives becomes a new ‘job'.

To add to the changed role, many district councils moved from election by thirds to all-out elections as well as reducing in size by up to a third. This is another facet of councils' transformation work, ensuring the size of council balances the democratic and organisational requirements. So what will the future hold? Apart from the need to look at decisions which have been timed to be made after the elections, there is a widespread cultural move in councils to become more commercial in approach.