“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 model4. 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 practice9. 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 ahead14. A letter to the next generation
15. Final thoughts
Part V: Appendices & toolsAppendix 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 readingsWhite Paper: From Pyramid to Platform – Rethinking the Council as a Living System
Green Paper: Turning the Living Council from Blueprint to Build
