Case studies

Public health curriculum adviser Alice Cruttwell has developed the programme for years 1 to 11 over the past six years with the aim of not only tackling teenage pregnancy, but also addressing safeguarding issues and improving the self-confidence and selfesteem of young people too.

Leicestershire has had great success reducing teenage pregnancy rates – latest figures show a fall of over 60 per cent since 1998. But the county council’s public health team has also invested time and effort in supporting young parents.

When Hull first started its teenage pregnancy work progress was a little slow. Conception rates were coming down, but not as fast or consistently as the city’s Teenage Pregnancy Partnership would have liked.

Working with schools is, of course, an essential part of tackling teenage pregnancy. Investing in good quality relationships and sex education is something many areas have done, but Bristol City Council has taken that a step further by establishing a network of drop-in sessions in secondary schools.

North Tyneside has seen a significant reduction in the teenage pregnancy rate of 74 per cent since 1998. At the heart of North Tyneside Council’s success has been its partnership working which has allowed it to make great strides in creating youth-friendly services.

Although Gedling Borough Council had run resident satisfaction surveys for a number of years, the council decided to strengthen its face-to-face engagement with residents to help teams develop more customer-centred service plans and get a deeper insight into the needs of local people.

School admissions offer days are among the busiest for the council, with almost 3000 calls received on one day in 2016. With only 18 contact centre staff to answer them, Birmingham City Council needed new ways to provide information to parents.

Devolution remains an abstract concept for some, usually recognised as an economic boost, but less frequently, as a democratic win. The GMCA programme must be seen as something done with – not to - the city region’s residents

Family Safeguarding Teams are multi-agency teams that work with child protection and child in need cases. The Family Safeguarding project allows adult specialists and social workers to focus on direct, relationship-based therapeutic work.

Councils need to better understand the impacts of their own vehicles and how they can contribute towards reduced emissions.