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Today, we face a more fundamental challenge: how to rewire public services so that they remain resilient, equitable and effective when the things that are driving people to seek help from their council are becoming more complex.In Brent, as elsewhere, we see those realities every day. We continue to deliver hundreds of services that residents rely on, despite a £222m reduction in funding since 2010 and a workforce that is around half the size it was 15 years ago.At the same time, the underlying pressures facing our communities have intensified. Child poverty, housing insecurity, rising levels of homelessness, poor health outcomes and the rising cost of living mean more residents are turning to public services for help.It must start with knowing our communities and developing relationships of trust. By examining trends across housing, health, education and employment, our goal is to identify where pressures are emerging and to get ahead of issues before they become crises.The issues people face rarely fit into neat organisational boxes. A resident experiencing mental ill-health may also be struggling with rent, unemployment and debt. A family seeking housing support may also need help accessing childcare or special educational needs provision. But the traditional public service model, built around separate departments and service silos, is often poorly suited to addressing these interconnected challenges.Brent has always believed in the value of partnership. This view was cemented as we worked with the NHS to tackle deep-seated health inequalities by building community trust in the wake of the pandemic. Better outcomes are achieved when we align our efforts around shared priorities.More recently, the council, local voluntary organisations and other partners have come together to set up multi-disciplinary teams in accessible neighbourhood venues. These teams are given support and empowered to meet residents where they are, build trust, see the whole picture and be creative in doing the right thing to help get them on track.Back at our Civic Centre, we are mirroring this approach, encouraging teams to be creative in finding solutions, not waiting for things to get worse for our residents.For example, our new cross-council Income Maximisation Team is doing exactly what its title suggests. At heart, this is about empowering teams to get out of their usual swim lanes and work together.However, shifting from crisis response to prevention presents significant challenges. The first is financial. The benefits of prevention are often realised years after the investment is made, while councils must balance their budgets annually.At a time when many authorities are under acute financial pressure, it can be difficult to redirect resources towards longer-term preventative activity.The second challenge is that prevention cannot be delivered by councils alone. The factors driving demand do not sit neatly within any single organisation's control. Housing affordability, economic insecurity, health inequalities and community resilience require co-ordinated action across local government, the NHS, schools, employers, housing providers, the voluntary sector and national government. This is where a place-based approach becomes essential.The third challenge is a new kind of leadership which recognises our role as a convener and catalyst. We bring partners together around a common understanding of local challenges and opportunities. We make better use of community assets and local networks. We invest in relationships as well as services.This approach also requires a different relationship between councils and residents. Too often, people encounter public services only when they reach a point of crisis. We want residents to experience the council differently: as an organisation that listens, works alongside them, trusts them and can help them access support earlier.Perhaps, most importantly, we recognise that communities themselves are often best placed to identify and create solutions. Those solutions will not look the same in every part of England.We need to continue to work with communities to build greater capacity and services that are more human, more connected and more responsive to the realities of people's lives.The realities facing public services are undeniable. But, by understanding our communities deeply, investing in earlier prevention and embracing our role as place leaders, we can build public services that remain resilient, equitable and effective for the long term. The challenge for all of us is how ready we are to make that shift.Kim Wright is chief executive of Brent LBC She is a panel speaker at a session on Beyond capacity: confronting the new realities of public service demand at Public Finance Live at Olympia, London, on 16 July

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FINANCE

Rewiring local government from demand to prevention

By Kim Wright | 16 July 2026

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