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.
Northumberland’s ambition is to deliver the ‘Inclusive Economy’ agenda, by joining up investment streams and ensuring employment support is delivered in a more collaborative way across local authority areas. This case study explores the strengths, challenges and impact of the current skills and employment system, and what is required to increase positive outcomes for local residents.
The Cleveland region has formed a robust response to modern slavery through the creation of its Anti-Slavery network in 2018, which has seen key partners collaborate on actions to prevent, identify, and ultimately end human trafficking and modern slavery.
The councils in the Humberside area have developed an emergency housing protocol to provide accommodation for victims of modern slavery in the period before they enter the National Referral Mechanism (NRM).
This protocol is backed up by the development of a multi-agency case conference (MACC) approach to supporting victims of modern slavery identified through homelessness services. Last year, the approach was supplemented through the creation of a dedicated navigator post, based in The Passage, to support victims.
In March 2023, Telford & Wrekin Council received notification of an impending Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) inspection. This case study explores how the council turned a potentially high-pressure situation into a showcase of collaboration, clarity, and confidence and how communication played a vital role at every stage.
Wokingham Borough Council has set up a free mental health and wellbeing service which offers a range of courses and workshops people can utilise to encourage them to become experts in their own self-care.
Banbury Heights Nursing Home has been recruiting overseas nurses since 2003. We spoke to Charles Taylor from Banbury Heights about his experience of overseas recruitment. In 2021 recruitment expanded to include senior carers and since then Banbury Heights have sponsored 18 senior carers over three sites. With 150 employees this represents 12 per cent of the workforce.
The end to end process from applying for a sponsor licence to securing a person in post, in the UK took a long time. The process was started in July and the recruits didn’t arrive until January so it’s important to forward plan and allow time for overseas recruitment to happen.