That White Paper casts a long shadow over local government right now – but the real risk is that it's not throwing enough of a spotlight on the future at the same time.

The right now is intense. Policy and deadlines coming thick and fast. They collide and contradict in local government as we make sense of how it all works together – and that's without navigating the impact of telling everyone who works for you that the organisation has a half-life of three years.