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.
A mother was referred to the Physical Activity Social Prescribing service in her area by her GP for back pain. She was six months pregnant, solo parenting her toddler and living on the top floor of her block of flats. Life was physically tough, and she also felt very isolated. A Physical Activity Link Worker contacted the mother, and helped to put in place solutions.
For Muslim women exercising around men is often discouraged due to modesty and practicalities of clothing. Palmer Park Leisure Centre had an underutilised space which has been transformed into a programmable gym space, with designated female only hours
In January 2023, Active Wirral, facing soaring energy costs and a commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030, initiated a comprehensive energy efficiency project. Through delivering a range of interventions, the project exceeded its targets, avoiding £231K in costs and saving 335 tonnes CO2e, equivalent to driving around the globe 10 times in an SUV.
Wigan Council has been working to take a whole system approach to digital and ensure that it is embedded within their adult social care service. Digital has been a key part of the local authority’s transformational response to the challenge of austerity and demographic change underpinned by the Wigan Deal. Technology has been used to maximise peoples independence and resilience at home, improving outcomes simultaneous to reducing dependency on traditional models of support, aligned with the principle of better lives, less cost.
To make this happen, a proposal was taken through the Council’s chief officer and key member groups and all Departmental Management Teams, for health considerations to be routinely embedded in key council decision-making processes.
Recognising that there is a relationship with the wider determinants, and that the council has control or a strong influence over these and related service areas, the City Council sought to apply a Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach to a new cross-council Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs strategy, to optimise efficiency, effectiveness and outcomes.
The pandemic followed shortly after. The public health team worked with housing colleagues during this period, keeping people experiencing homelessness safe, and enabling their health and wider needs to be met. This included developing support to enable people to access skills development, apprenticeships and work and providing outreach dental care.
Similarly, since its inception in 2022, Blackpool Researching Together (Blackpool’s Health Determinants Research Collaborative or HDRC) has committed to a model that has commissioned two community organisations to recruit community members to join the team as co-researchers. This approach provides paid roles for 10 youth and 10 adult community co-researchers.
The Annual report recommended adopting a Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach to reduce health inequalities and ensure health considerations were embedded into all council decisions. This recommendation was endorsed by Warwickshire Health and Wellbeing Board in March 2021, setting in motion a coordinated effort to embed HiAP principles across the council and its partners.