Innovation in local government is about improving the lives of the people in our
communities. Browse through our case studies to see the many innovative programmes councils are involved
in.
Wakefield Council created an innovative new housing company in partnership to accelerate the delivery of new homes and generate revenue for further housing investment in their district.
The case studies featured here demonstrate how councils are getting their local communities involved in tackling a broad range of issues and challenges.
Involving older people case studies
Leeds City Council created a website where older people, their relatives and carers, could find the right information quickly. To support older people's engagement with the website, the team have since set up a network of computer training courses.
London Citizens are the contingent of Citizens UK based in London. Citizens UK describe themselves as the "home of community organising in the UK", seeing their work as democracy in action – for example, holding politicians and other decision makers to account. Mayoral Assemblies are part of this process.
Assembly North was a pilot citizens' assembly in South Yorkshire conducted by Democracy Matters, a group of academics from the University of Sheffield, the University of Southampton, University College London, the University of Westminster and the Electoral Reform Society.
The People's Panel was a citizens' assembly made up of 5,000 members of the public, which aimed to act as a ‘sounding board' – providing ongoing feedback of government policy. It was organised by the Labour Government from 1998 to 2002.
In September 2014 NHS Citizen – a national programme giving the public a say on healthcare matters within NHS England – ran a full-scale test assembly which consisted of around 200 patients, carers, activists, volunteers, third sector and public services workers who came together to discuss agenda items chosen by citizens.