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.
In October 2024, St Helens Council launched its AI-driven Technology Enabled Care (TEC) Hub, a key component of its 2024-2027 Adult Social Care strategy and its "reablement – home first approach," to transform its services.
The council ensures that everyone involved in its governance and assurance framework contributes to regular reviews of its application and take ownership of improvement actions relevant to their role.
Colchester City Council, Essex County Council and Essex Highways worked in partnership to obtain funding from the 2020-2021 Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Air Quality Grant to implement an innovative air quality and traffic sensor network in Colchester.
Essex County Council and Essex Highways worked in partnership to obtain funding from the 2021-2022 Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Air Quality Grant to fund a three-pronged approach to raise awareness regarding air quality in Essex
Basildon Council (BC) and Essex County Council (ECC) received a Legal Directive to resolve perceived exceedances of the EU Limit Value, following the publishing of the UK plan for tackling roadside nitrogen dioxide concentrations by Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in 2017.
Essex Highways worked with Maldon District Council and Essex County Council to identify the causes of high nitrogen dioxide concentrations within the Market Hill Air Quality Management Area, and to develop, assess and implement a solution.
In 2024 Southwark Council adopted a Climate Resilience and Adaptation Strategy as an extension of their existing Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (2021). The strategy aims to prepare the borough for the impacts of climate change while addressing inequalities.
An internal cross-department working group was set up to focus specifically on heat risk. The group initially brought together officers from Communications, Facilities Management and Library Services, Education, Housing, Parks, Emergency Response, Climate, Public Health and Adult and Social care to consider key heat related risks and past responses.