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.
Loomio is a web application used to assist groups with a collaborative decision-making process by allowing the creation of focused topic forums with set deadlines and space for deliberation. The Welsh Assembly first used the application in 2014 as part of the Health and Social Care Committee's inquiry looking into alcohol and substance misuse in Wales.
GoCA was made up of representatives from local community groups in Govanhill and was held accountable for its spend by the local community. The group was supported by Oxfam's UK Poverty Programme in Scotland, which helped facilitate the participatory budgeting process and bridged the perceived gap between public sector workers and GoCA members.
Participatory budgeting was created in Porto Alegre, a city of 1.3 million people in Brazil, in 1989. It is widely considered the biggest and most successful use of participatory budgeting in the world with 17,200 citizens involved at its peak in 2002. It has had powerful redistributive impacts as well becoming embedded in the institutional structure of municipal government.
The Lambeth Living Well Collaborative was established in 2010 and is a platform of partners aiming to radically improve the outcomes experienced by people with severe and enduring mental health problems. It involves citizens, mental health service users, peer supporters, commissioners, the voluntary sector, and health and social care staff.
In September 2014 NHS Citizen – a national programme giving the public a say on healthcare matters within NHS England – ran a full-scale test assembly which consisted of around 200 patients, carers, activists, volunteers, third sector and public services workers who came together to discuss agenda items chosen by citizens.
Through Local Area Coordination, service users stay strong, safe and connected in communities which are more welcoming, inclusive and supportive. As a result, they can find practical, non-service solutions to problems and generally avoid the use of acute front-line services which are increasingly unaffordable.
Vulnerable people typically spend a lot of their time at home, so their homes are particularly important in maintaining physical and mental health, and addressing health inequalities.