Case studies

Hertfordshire’s strategic approach has been to maintain and strengthen the cross-council, cross-service, multi-partner approach that proved effective during COVID-19, and has been refined and built on for cost of living support.

In response to the growing pressures residents in Hertfordshire are facing, Hertfordshire County Council has established a ‘Cost of Living Taskforce’ which brings together representation from various service areas to coordinate how the organisation is supporting residents. 

At the budget scrutiny, a task and finish group approach is adopted. Each portfolio is scrutinised by a small group of members over a dedicated period, providing opportunity for focused challenge and questioning.

Hertfordshire’s whole systems approach to child obesity includes a successful weight management service, an active school travel plan that discourages car drop-offs, and 10 “healthy hubs”.

Faced with the challenge of recruiting more on call firefighters, Hertfordshire County Council tapped into the excitement of the Premier League’s transfer deadline day to reach their audience and attract new talent. Communications Officer Grace Fordham explains what they did.

With demand on adult social care constantly increasing the need to recruit and retain carers has never been higher. But how to you attract and keep the best talent in the face of misunderstanding about the sector?

Hertfordshire County Council’s Strategic Partnerships Team identified that there needed to be a stronger representation of voices from victims and survivors of domestic abuse within their approach to commissioning domestic abuse services.

From March to October 2021, there was a reported increased in the number of suicide attempts, fatalities, and interventions at Stevenage train station. A Task and Finish Group was set up to quickly explore what support could be offered locally to people in crisis at the station. A NightLight crisis café has been opened close to the station, with 108 visits in the first month alone. This case study was done jointly with the National Suicide Prevention Alliance and forms part of our suicide prevention resource.

Hertfordshire County Council’s powerful scam prevention campaign used a single story to highlight a common problem. Their campaign was awarded a bronze award at the 2019 Public Service Communications Excellence Awards.

Mental health problems can impact anybody at any stage of their life. Many people are scared to open up about mental health issues but Hertfordshire Council and partner agencies from across the county made it their mission to help change this. They wanted to raise awareness and normalise speaking out about mental health, particularly among boys and young men. Jen Beer, children and young people’s health improvement lead for public health at Hertfordshire County Council, tells us how their campaign to get people to ‘Just Talk’ won a bronze public service communications excellence award.