Overview

""A new way is possible because the old one is no longer working."" I didn't set out to write a book. Like many of us in public service, I've spent years focused on the urgent: budgets, restructures, service redesigns, transformation plans, and the daily push to do more with less. I've worked in councils under pressure, with staff on the edge, and systems stretched beyond what they were ever designed to do. I've also seen sparks of brilliance, neighbourhood teams who solved problems together, frontline staff who innovated in silence, leaders who quietly reimagined what councils could be. And I've asked myself, over and over: Why isn't this the norm? This book is my answer. The Living Council is a practical vision born out of lived experience, of leading change in some of the UK's most complex environments, of witnessing first-hand what works (and what doesn't), and of believing that local government deserves a better operating model than the one it's inherited. I've called that new model the Living Council. Because it breathes. It adapts. It learns. It's not locked in hierarchy or weighed down by bureaucracy. It puts prevention before crisis, people before process, and purpose before paperwork. It uses data and AI intelligently, but never forgets the human at the heart of it all. And crucially, it's already happening. All over the country, pieces of this model exist. In districts, unitaries, cities, in libraries repurposed for early help, in digital academies that upskill staff in AI, in multi-agency teams working without ego to prevent escalation before it happens. This book brings those pieces together. It's a guide for anyone who wants to build something better, whether you're a chief exec, a frontline practitioner, a councillor, a community leader, or someone just starting in local government and wondering what kind of system you've walked into. If you've ever looked around and thought, surely, we can do this differently, you're in the right place. You don't need permission to start. Just purpose. And a team. And the courage to try. Let's begin. Jens Part I: The case for change 1. The death of the old council 2. The era of permanent austerity 3. False dawns and expensive fixes Part II: The Living Council model 4. A council that breathes 5. From data-rich to data-driven 6. Prevention is a mindset, not a department 7. The AI-native council 8. Culture, courage, and breaking the school rules Part III: Putting it into practice 9. Designing the Living Council 10. The money bit 11. The people side 12. Governance, risk, and politics 13. The first 100 days of a Living Council Part IV: Looking ahead 14. A letter to the next generation 15. Final thoughts Part V: Appendices & tools Appendix 1: The Living Council checklist Appendix 2: First 100 days roadmap Appendix 3: Living Council structure model Appendix 4: Financial reframing workbook Appendix 5: Ethics and governance prompts for AI Appendix 6: Community co-design toolkit Part VI: Essential readings White Paper: From Pyramid to Platform - Rethinking the Council as a Living System Green Paper: Turning the Living Council from Blueprint to Build

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