CouncilMaxxing

Ask your AI what your council actually decided.

1.59 million documents from 320 UK councils — minutes, meetings and decisions, from the open Council Gateway API built by Poteris — plugged into Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor with one URL. No app, no account. Every answer quotes the real minutes and links the source.

Connector URL https://council-gateway-mcp-508695152452.europe-west1.run.app/mcp

That's everything you need ↓ pick your assistant and paste it in.

Connect it

Claude Paid plan

Open claude.ai in a browser (on your phone, use the browser — the mobile app may not show connector settings).
Go to Settings → Connectors.
Tap Add custom connector.
Paste the URL, name it CouncilMaxxing, save.
Start a new chat — the tools are live.

Using Claude Code instead? Run:

claude mcp add --transport http councilmaxxing https://council-gateway-mcp-508695152452.europe-west1.run.app/mcp

ChatGPT Plus / Pro

Go to Settings → Apps & Connectors.
Under Advanced, switch on Developer mode.
Choose Create connector.
Paste the URL, name it CouncilMaxxing. Authentication: None. Save.
In a new chat, enable it from the tools menu.

Developer mode is needed because this is a full tool server, not a search-only connector.

Cursor

Add this to .cursor/mcp.json in your project:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "councilmaxxing": {
      "url": "https://council-gateway-mcp-508695152452.europe-west1.run.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Then ask it

What has Hackney decided recently about low-traffic neighbourhoods? Quote the minutes and link the source.

Coverage runs Nov 2023 onward across 320 of ~400 UK councils — so "not found" doesn't always mean "didn't happen".

Real questions, real answers. Everything below was produced by an AI assistant through this connector on 22 Aug 2026 — tool calls shown, quotes verbatim, every answer linked to the source PDF. Four kinds of people, three questions each.

🏠 Resident

“Is the thing I heard actually true?”

What has Hackney council decided recently about low-traffic neighbourhoods? Quote the minutes and link the source.

Cabinet “noted” the Hoxton LTN opposition on 15 Dec 2025 — no change to the scheme.Show the answer

resolve_council(Hackney) → search_documents("low traffic neighbourhood") → get_document_text(find="Traffic Neighbourhood") → get_document (pdf link)

Hackney's Cabinet has been dealing with organised opposition to LTNs, especially the Hoxton scheme. At its meeting on 15 December 2025 it formally resolved:

“That the deputation, Opposition to Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) implementation in Hoxton, is noted.”

That's a “noting” decision — opposition acknowledged, no change to the scheme. A further petition, “Pause and Reassessment of LTNs”, came back to Cabinet on 23 March 2026 with no formal resolution yet in the record.

Cabinet decisions, 15 Dec 2025 (PDF)

Is Islington planning to close or cut any libraries or leisure centres? Show me the exact passage if there is one.

No library closures found. Finsbury Leisure Centre project paused, not closed.Show the answer

search_documents("library closure") → 0 hits · search_documents("leisure centre future") → 18 · get_document_text(find="Finsbury Leisure Centre")

Libraries: nothing — zero documents match. Leisure centres: one live item, Finsbury Leisure Centre. The Q1 2025/26 capital monitoring report (Executive, 25 Sep 2025) says:

“The Executive decision on 24 April 2025 to cease the Finsbury Leisure Centre Project has implications on the Toffee Park and Radnor Street Gardens project… This has led to a pause on the existing Toffee Park and Radnor Street Gardens project and significant budget slippage.”

The same report says costed plans are being worked up for “the redevelopment and refurbishment of the Finsbury Leisure Centre” — so a paused scheme, not a closed centre.

Capital monitoring Q1 2025-26, Executive (PDF)

Did Hackney council actually discuss the ‘climate emergency’ this year? Find the most recent document and give me the paragraph.

Yes — Full Council, 4 Mar 2026: “Hackney declared a Climate Emergency in 2019…”Show the answer

search_documents("climate emergency", Hackney) → 142 hits → get_document_text(1336683, find="Climate Emergency")

Yes — at the Budget Setting Council meeting on 4 March 2026, in an amendment to the “Right to Grow” motion on community food growing:

“Hackney declared a Climate Emergency in 2019 and local food growing contributes to our response to the climate emergency for those in greatest need.”

Amendments to Right to Grow motion, Full Council, 4 Mar 2026 (PDF)

🏛️ Councillor

“What did we already decide, and where's the minute?”

Brief me on what Islington council did in the last 14 days — meetings held, anything cancelled, any key decisions.

No meetings sat; both August licensing panels cancelled; 3 delegated key decisions.Show the answer

list_meetings(Islington, 2026-08-08 → 08-22) · list_decisions(is_key=true, same window)

Meetings: none held. The only one scheduled — Licensing Sub Committee C, Thu 20 Aug — was cancelled. Widening to the full month: Licensing Sub Committee B (4 Aug) was also cancelled, so both of August's licensing panels have been called off.

Key decisions (3, all delegated): 19 Aug — Director of Environment & Public Safety · 14 Aug ×2 — Corporate Director, Health & Social Care.

Decision 2453 · 2451 · 2452

What has Islington's Executive decided about housing this year? List the key decisions with dates and links.

Housing Improvement Plan to Executive, 30 Jul 2026, after a C3 regulator judgement.Show the answer

list_decisions(Islington, 2026, is_key=true) → 64 · search_documents("housing") · get_meeting(129268) · get_document_text(1539358, find="Recommendations")

Headline: Housing Improvement Programme — Executive, 30 July 2026. After the Regulator of Social Housing graded Islington's landlord services C3, the Executive was asked to:

“Approve the Housing Improvement Plan at Appendix 2 to support our response to the Regulator for Social Housing judgement… Note the establishment of a Housing Improvement Board, with an independent chair.”

Context: 25,892 tenanted and 9,679 leaseholder homes — London's second-largest council landlord. Eight further housing key decisions in 2026 were taken under delegated authority (19 Jan – 23 Jun).

Housing Improvement Plan report (PDF) · Executive, 30 Jul 2026

A resident is asking about a licensing application on Holloway Road — show me the exact report wording.

Judges Food and Wine, 113 Holloway Road — exact report wording, with the PDF.Show the answer

get_meeting(129939) → 3 documents · get_document(1543754) → 52k chars · get_document_text(find="application")

Judges Food and Wine, 113 Holloway Road, N7 8LT — new premises licence, report to Licensing Sub Committee B (4 Aug 2026; meeting cancelled, report published):

“The new application is to allow: The sale of alcohol, Monday to Sunday, from 08:00 to 22:00… These premises are located in the Holloway and Finsbury Park Cumulative Impact Area therefore the Licensing Sub-Committee will need to consider Licensing Policy 3, which states that there is a presumption of refusal…”

Representations: Police (conditions agreed, withdrawn) and one resident objection.

Committee report (PDF)

📰 Journalist

“Give me the number, the date and the receipt.”

Which of Hackney, Islington, Lambeth and Tower Hamlets has discussed low-traffic neighbourhoods the most? Counts per council and the most recent document for each.

Hackney 48 · Islington 35 · Tower Hamlets 19 · Lambeth 8 documents.Show the answer

resolve_council ×4 → search_documents("low traffic neighbourhood") per council, paged to the end → get_document on the latest hit

Council	Docs	Most recent
Hackney	48	Capital outturn 2025-26, Scrutiny · 21 Jul 2026
Islington	35	Health & Wellbeing Board · 17 Mar 2026
Tower Hamlets	19	Council minutes · 25 Mar 2026
Lambeth	8	AQAP EQIA, Cabinet · 2 Feb 2026

Hackney's volume is driven by the Hoxton LTN petition fight (Dec 2025 → 2026); Tower Hamlets' by a Court of Appeal ruling on its scheme (Cabinet, 28 Jan 2026) and a petition to remove the Bethnal Green LTN. Counts are documents touching LTNs, not LTN decisions.

Find me a 2026 Islington or Hackney document about a temporary-accommodation overspend and quote the figure.

£13.6m of an £18.2m overspend was temporary accommodation — Hackney's auditors, Jan 2026.Show the answer

search_documents("temporary accommodation overspend") → get_document(1243209) → get_document_text(find="£13.6m")

Hackney's external auditor (Forvis Mazars), reporting to Audit Committee on 13 January 2026:

“The 2024/25 outturn for Climate, Homes and Economy service being reported as a £18.2m variance (after £3.9m use of reserves) against a budget of £75.3m. Of the £18.2m, £13.6m of the overspend related to Temporary Accommodation.”

Same report: TA budget £73.8m for 2025/26, pressure projected to reach £33.8m by 2028-29, £15–20m of reserves expected to be drawn down this year — flagged by the auditors as “a significant weakness in arrangements… financial sustainability.”

Forvis Mazars progress report, Audit Committee, 13 Jan 2026 (PDF)

How many Islington meetings were cancelled this summer (June–August 2026), and which committees?

2 of 34 cancelled (both licensing panels); 4 more postponed.Show the answer

list_meetings(Islington, 2026-06-01 → 08-31, limit=100) → 34 meetings, one page

2 of 34 cancelled — both Licensing Sub Committees, both in August (B on 4 Aug, C on 20 Aug). A further 4 were postponed, all Pensions Board/Committee sittings (8 & 16 Jun, 8 & 21 Jul) — “didn't happen as planned” would be 6.

Licensing Sub Committee B, 4 Aug · Licensing Sub Committee C, 20 Aug

📣 Campaigner

“Where do I show up, and what was promised?”

Which committees at Hackney have met in the last 90 days, and how often? I need to know which one to watch.

Watch the Planning Sub-Committee — steady 4-week cycle, met 2 Jul and 29 Jul.Show the answer

list_meetings(Hackney, 2026-05-24 → 08-22, limit=100) → 37 entries, grouped by committee

Committee	Held	Dates
Licensing Sub-Cttee D	3 of 3	16 Jun · 29 Jun · 20 Jul
Cabinet	2 of 3	29 Jun · 20 Jul (1 Jun cancelled)
Procurement Board	2 of 3	26 May · 22 Jul (9 Jun cancelled)
Planning Sub-Cttee	2 of 2	2 Jul · 29 Jul
Full Council	2 of 2	28 May (Annual) · 28 Jul

Watch the Planning Sub-Committee — it decides individual applications on a steady ~4-week cycle and is where residents speak. Licensing D was the busiest single panel; Cabinet is where borough-wide spending lands.

When is Hackney's Planning Sub-Committee likely to meet next? Estimate from its recent pattern.

Estimate: around 25–27 Aug 2026 (27–28-day cadence) — not yet published.Show the answer

list_meetings(Hackney, last 6 months) → filtered to Planning Sub-Committee → gaps computed

Six sittings since February: 26 Feb · 11 Mar · 1 Apr · 29 Apr · 2 Jul · 29 Jul 2026. Gaps 13/21/28/64/27 days — the 64-day gap is the May election recess; the settled cadence is 27–28 days.

Estimate, not confirmed: next sitting around 25–27 August 2026. Nothing is published after 29 Jul yet — check the committee page for the confirmed slot.

Planning Sub-Committee, 29 Jul 2026

What did Islington council commit to on active travel or cycling? Pull the commitment wording verbatim.

“…full network of at least 250 bays… anticipated to be completed in early 2026.”Show the answer

search_documents("active travel", Islington) → get_document(1173830) → 71k chars → get_document_text(find="commit")

From the Response to the Scrutiny Review of the Active Travel Programme, Environment, Climate and Transport Scrutiny Committee, 25 Nov 2025:

“A further 57 bays are planned to be installed by October this year, and a further phase of bay installations is planned for early 2026… the introduction of the full network of at least 250 bays… is now anticipated to be completed in early 2026.”

Watch for: the “at least 250 bays” hire-bike target — a concrete, dated promise that has already slipped once.

Active Travel.pdf (PDF)

These are the assistant's answers as given — always open the linked PDF before you quote one. Coverage runs Nov 2023 onward across 320 of ~400 councils, and some councils lag (Camden's records currently stop in Aug 2025), so “not found” doesn't always mean “didn't happen”.