The problem CouncilPapers was built to solve
When CouncilPapers' founder was first elected to his Town Council, he expected to focus on the issues that matter to his community. What he didn't expect was how much time and effort went into the administration surrounding every meeting — agendas built laboriously in Word, minutes formatted and reformatted, PDFs uploaded manually to a council website, and documents shared with councillors by email with no audit trail and little security.
The tools available to most parish and town councils hadn't kept pace with their obligations. Councils are required by law to publish agendas and minutes, to meet accessibility standards, and to maintain clear records — yet the majority are still doing all of this by hand, relying on the dedication of overstretched clerks rather than systems designed for the job.
CouncilPapers was created to change that. Not by adding complexity, but by removing it.
How we approach the work
CouncilPapers is built on a small number of principles that shape every decision we make.
Designed for clerks
Every feature is shaped by real administrative workflows. If it doesn't save time or reduce risk for the people running the meeting, it doesn't make the cut.
Built for compliance
Transparency and accessibility obligations are built into the platform, not left to the user to figure out. Councils should be able to meet their statutory requirements without needing a specialist.
Responsible stewardship
Council data belongs to the council. We process it only to provide the services requested, store it securely in the UK, and handle it with the care that public sector data demands.
Straightforward support
When councils need help, they get a response from someone who understands local government administration — not a chatbot and a ticket queue.
About the founder
Jon is a software developer and elected town councillor based in Kent. After being elected to Town Council, he experienced firsthand the gap between what councils are required to do and the tools available to help them do it.
Drawing on his technical background, Jon developed CouncilPapers to address the specific administrative challenges that parish and town councils face — from producing correctly formatted agendas to ensuring published minutes meet accessibility regulations. The platform reflects both his technical expertise and his practical understanding of how local councils actually operate.
CouncilPapers is operated by Paper Monkey Limited, a UK-registered company. Jon remains directly involved in the development and support of the platform.
See CouncilPapers in action
Book a demo or start a free trial — no technical setup required, no commitment.
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Built by a councillor, for council clerks
Save hours of paperwork per meeting
Write agendas and minutes once and publish them straight to your council's website. Councillors get them in the Councillor App. No re-typing, no uploading files one by one. See the features
Records you can stand behind
Agendas and minutes are version-tracked and searchable, with public and confidential versions kept apart. That helps you stay audit-ready, though the council remains responsible for its own compliance. Overview for clerks
Open, accessible council papers
Published papers are designed to meet WCAG 2.2 AA, the standard the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018 require. Your council's data is stored in the UK (AWS London). Accessibility statement
Councillors get agendas, papers and past minutes in one secure app, not a pile of email attachments. Overview for councillors
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