James joined the District Councils’ Network in September 2021. He provides policy, strategic and operational oversight for the Network.

Before the DCN, James held a range of senior posts in the civil service. Most recently, he worked at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). His roles included being Joint Director of Housing Strategy & Markets, Director of Building Safety & Remediation, and Deputy Director of Local Authority Housing. He has wide local government experience and networks from his time at DLUHC. He also worked in policy and strategy roles at the Ministry of Justice and HM Treasury. He has extensive experience of operating in Whitehall. He also has private-sector and commercial experience from his days as a strategy consultant in the oil & gas industry at the start of his career.