Case studies

Leicestershire’s school nursing service has set up a text messaging service for secondary school pupils. It has helped the service engage hard-to-reach groups with pupils reporting it makes them feel more comfortable discussing sensitive issues.

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council has put itself at the forefront of assistive care technology. It uses both monitored and stand-alone devices to help 2,500 people live independently.

Staffordshire County Council has been using digital technology to help older people stay independent.

Sunderland City Council worked with Sunderland North Community Business Centre to significantly enhance the visitor and commercial offer of the Bowles Railway Museum.

Collaborative Change, Capita and 10 social housing providers across the UK worked together to explore how behavioural insights and ‘nudge’-style interventions could maximise income collection and reduce rent arrears.

Tees Active is a charitable leisure trust established by Stockton-onTees Borough Council in 2004. As well as providing cost-efficient management of council facilities, it delivers a range of commissioned services that contribute to the local health strategy.

Oldham Community Leisure was formed as an industrial and provident society in 2002. Its partnership with Oldham Council is successfully delivering on a range of community outcomes. The leisure trust delivers health interventions and services as well as running leisure centres and sports facilities.

Broxbourne Borough Council runs its own sports provision through the Broxbourne Sport service. Over the last 10 years the service has gone from an operating loss to a trading budget surplus, which is used to improve the facilities and increase participation. This has already saved more than £700,000 from the council’s capital programme budget.

Wirral Council runs its own sport and leisure provision and has an ambition for the service to be selfsufficient by 2020. Ahead of that, investment is underway to improve the facilities, increase participation, improve the health of local people and generate greater income from the sports facilities.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council provides its sport, play and arts service and its leisure service inhouse. Other models have been considered and trialled in the past, such as outsourcing, but the services demonstrate high levels of success under the in-house mechanism.