Councils have come a long way in changing how they think about their places and the services they offer their citizens. Many are looking at new approaches to place, based not on outputs, nor on how they run individual services, but on the impact they can have on the people who live in their districts.

This approach may have been accelerated by austerity, but it would always have been the right approach – cuts or no cuts. This is not just about making savings and efficiencies – vital when budgets have been slashed to the hilt, but about getting better outcomes, life chances and benefits from their services for their people.

Doing so has required a huge shift in the way councils approach strategic planning. What once felt natural – to plan service by service and department by department is now under question. Users with multiple needs were having their services duplicated in ways both baffling and inefficient. So many services are now planned from the end result backwards.