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 Worcestershire, a small team of service-user volunteers provide support and resources to people affected by drug and alcohol misuse who do not engage with conventional treatment services. This is just one element of the work underway to reduce the health inequalities for this vulnerable group of people.
City of York’s public health team recognised that the children in asylum-seeking families had often missed out on routine vaccinations. When other parts of Yorkshire experienced measles outbreaks, the team worked with local partners to prevent an outbreak in York’s migrant population.
Stainforth is a small town in South Yorkshire. This former mining community is located within the City of Doncaster local authority area and has a population of around 6,000. The Shaping Stainforth SPHL programme aims to take a complex system approach to improving the determinants of mental health in Stainforth by building on community strengths and assets.
Newham Council, along with its partners, is adopting a complex systems approach to building food security among young people aged 11 to 19. Nutrition plays a crucial role during adolescence, the second-fastest growth phase after the first two years of life, and is vital for long-term adult health. Food insecurity is a major contributor to poor health outcomes, and Newham’s goal is to shift how food insecurity interventions are framed, designed and delivered for this age group.
Essex County Council is enabling people to live as independently as possible, by deploying care technologies, reducing dependency on long-term, higher cost care and support. They recognize that most people benefitting from care technology are in the older people population and they are exploring more how care technology can be utilized across other adults.
Essex County Council is committed to supporting unpaid carers, whose vital contributions are often undervalued. In 2022, the Essex All-Age Carers Strategy was developed to enhance support for carers, with six key commitments to improve access to resources, wellbeing, and community recognition. The strategy led to the Essex Carers Model, which includes the Essex Wellbeing Service for initial contact, the Essex Carers Core Offer of Support (ECCOS), a digital service, and the Carers Voice initiative. Extensive stakeholder engagement and coproduction were key to its success. The ambition is to support over 12,500 carers through the redesigned core offer
The Isle of Wight is a county of two halves. In the summer the island is very busy with a large influx of tourists. In the winter it is very quiet. For people working in social care on the island it can be quite hard to not bump into people you are supporting in a range of non-support environments.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council was keen to explore how they could use the national shared workforce priorities to support the adult social care workforce programme that they were developing locally.
Yorkshire and Humber, like many other regions, identify their workforce as their biggest asset, but also an area of significant challenge. Keeping pace with a pandemic, and with rapid demographic, political, economic and technological changes, requires a sharpened focus on doing the right thinks to allow the workforce to thrive.