About

Malcolm Gardner, Managing Director, has built a diverse and influential career over several decades. Beginning in the IT industry in the late 1970s, he moved into local government during a period of rapid change. His early work on Housing Benefit systems and his leadership of Revenues and Benefits departments made him an early adopter of data analytics and electronic processes to improve public services. As a consultant, he continued to push for innovation, focusing on efficiency, accuracy, and better outcomes for residents. His expertise also extended to performance management, behavioural change, and setting professional standards for local authority fraud investigations.

In 2018, Malcolm joined Team Netsol as a Senior Business Analyst, applying his long experience with technology and public policy to welfare and taxation projects. Although he formally retired in 2022, his commitment to public service has remained central. He revived his company, Visionary Network, as a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to modernising local government through practical reform, evidence-led design, and responsible use of new technologies such as AI.

Today, Malcolm is regarded as a leading authority on redesigning council tax and welfare schemes. He continues to influence the future of public services with a clear, forward-looking approach that combines innovation, strong governance, and a deep understanding of how systems affect real people.

Malcolm Phone: 0794 6800171
Email malcolm@visionarynetwok.co.uk
Book time with Malcolm: https://bit.ly/VNMGTime

Rachael Walker, Director of Policy & Strategy is an experienced public sector consultant and policy advocate with more than twenty years’ experience in local government and social policy. She is the Founder and Director of The Campaign for Better Policy, where her work focuses on welfare, regional inequality, and women’s issues.

Her career includes senior roles such as Policy and Research Director at Policy in Practice and Principal Consultant at Trueman Change, alongside serving on the board of the Co-operative Councils’ Innovation Network. She began her public service career at Hyndburn Borough Council, leading revenues, benefits and customer services, and establishing a strong reputation for change management, resident-centred practice, and practical reform.

She is a public and social policy enthusiast, researcher, and commentator with a particular interest in welfare systems, regional inequality, and the future of local public services. Her work is grounded in systemic reform, with a focus on making complex policies—Council Tax in particular—fairer, more coherent, and more effective.

Over the years she has contributed to major national reports, helped shape policy conversations, and appeared across news, radio, and national newspapers. She has worked closely with leading think tanks and expert networks, championing policy that is rigorous, evidence-led, and grounded in people’s real lives rather than ideology, arbitrary limits, or misplaced moral judgements.

She writes, speaks, and advocates for the kind of bold, necessary change that strengthens communities and improves outcomes for those who rely on public services.

Email rachael@visionarynetwork.co.uk

Paul Howarth is an independent consultant who works mainly for Visionary Network, writing plain English council tax reduction schemes for local authorities, and for Policy in Practice on data issues. Since 2012, Paul has worked with local authorities on many issues, including the relationship between Universal Credit and council tax reduction schemes, Discretionary Housing Payments, and data-sharing legislation.

Paul worked for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and its predecessors for 38 years before retiring in October 2011.  For the last 10 years of his DWP career Paul was head of Housing Benefit policy and was responsible for the introduction of Local Housing Allowance.  As well as delivering an extensive reform programme, Paul regards one of his main achievements at DWP as transforming the relationship with local authorities through better engagement and communication.  He believes that central government could do more to recognise and encourage the key role of local authorities in delivering welfare.

• Paul telephone: 07854 773164
• Paul email: paul@visionarynetwork.co.uk

Kevin Stewart, Director, is a highly experienced former senior local government manager with over 40 years of expertise in revenues, benefits, and counter-fraud. He is a former national President of the IRRV and a past IRRV Council Member, having played an influential role in the Institute’s development over many years.

Kevin has made significant contributions to the field and continues to advise several Government departments. He held senior roles across multiple Local Authorities and worked for the Audit Commission, where he contributed to the Protecting the Public Purse reports.

Now retired from full-time local government work, Kevin remains active in the profession. He also continues to speak at events and support training and policy development. While retried Kevin keeps his hand by volunteering with Visionary Network, on areas such outreach and contributing to a range of wider policy agendas to join up services and improving customer journeys and productivity across local government.

Kevin’s Email kevin@visionarynetwork.co.uk

Jon Gibbs, Senior Revenues and Benefits Consultant

Jon is an experienced Revenues and Benefits specialist with almost thirty years in product development, service transformation, and public sector innovation. He spent the majority of his career with IBS OPENSystems and later Civica, where he became Product Strategy Director. In that role he led strategic product development, supported new business growth, and worked closely with central and local government to shape the next generation of welfare and revenues technology.

Across more than two decades, Jon has been at the forefront of modernising Revenues and Benefits systems. His work has included designing core functionality used by councils across the UK, managing complex programme delivery, and championing improvements in business processes, data use, and customer experience. His leadership at Civica helped guide the evolution of major software platforms during a period of significant policy and technological change.

After leaving Civica in 2025, Jon established Jon Gibbs Consulting, providing specialist advice to local authorities and sector partners. His expertise spans product management, change management, stakeholder engagement, pre-sales leadership, and business transformation. He is well known across the sector for his practical insight, collaborative style, and deep technical understanding of how Revenues and Benefits systems operate in practice.

Jon now works with Visionary Network as a senior consultant, supporting councils to redesign their systems, improve delivery, and prepare for the next wave of digital and policy reform. His combination of technical experience and strategic vision makes him a valued part of the VN team.

Email jon@visionarynetwork.co.uk

You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand. — Woodrow Wilson