Case studies

North Tyneside Council's project to improve speech, language and communication in the early years of a child’s life has helped to reduce the gap between socio-economically disadvantaged children and their peers.

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

Support and funding have been available in Derbyshire to retrofit homes in the social housing and private rented sector, and to homeowners in fuel poverty through several funding mechanisms including the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and the Sustainable Warmth Competition.

'We Are Staffordshire’ was built on a mission to ignite a collective pride in Staffordshire’s people and for that pride to put the county on the map as THE place to live, work, visit and study. Louisa Shaw, Place Brand Manager, provides further insight.

‘A Fairer Stockton-on-Tees’ (FSOT) is the borough council’s long-term strategic framework for tackling inequalities. The immediate focus is on ensuring that the council and its delivery partners can help local residents navigate the cost of living.

Staffordshire Libraries and Arts Service run a very successful annual Summer Reading Challenge. Early Years practitioners in Staffordshire reported a negative impact on the development of early speech and language as a result of the pandemic. The Mini Summer Reading Challenge seemed an ideal programme to support parents and settings with early speech and language in the home learning environment.

At Stroud District Council we have more than 20 years’ experience working in partnership on retrofit. Our experience on issues such as affordable warmth is now seen as integral to a wider ‘retrofit challenge’.

Collaborating with Children’s Services in the LGA Family Hubs Peer Review, Dorset Library Service began to explore how we could develop our contribution to the Best Start in Life* and Dorset Council’s: Our Children, Young People’s and Families Plan 2020-2023.

Reading Borough Council is investing in modern, regionally-significant leisure facilities to improve health and wellbeing whilst ensuring alignment with its ambitious climate commitments.

Southwark is one of only five English councils to fund a universal Free School Meal (FSM) offer for all of its primary schools. The Council’s Free Healthy School Meals (FHSM) programme has been a universal offer and council commitment since September 2013 for all primary school students in Key Stage 2, supplementing the central government funded, means-tested Free School Meals and Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM).