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.
During 2023 to 2024, self-access technology was installed across Sutton’s libraries, extending opening hours by 63 per cent and enabling the council to keep all its eight libraries open. Self-access is popular with customers.
Sutton’s family hubs have a universal parenting service that has been developed for parents by parents. The programmes are facilitated by trained parent group leaders and have been incorporated into the wider parenting support offer of the family hubs.
Partners in Care and Health (PCH) was approached by the Public Health Team at Liverpool City Council to facilitate a ‘health in all policies’ workshop. Colleagues from planning, sustainability and policy all attended. New projects are now underway and the Public Health Team is finding it has greater ability to influence key council strategies.
Devon County Council requested Partners in Care and Health’s (PCH) support to deliver Prevention Matters training for its councillors. Twenty-two councillors attended the one-day workshop in May – around a third of the members of the council. A range of actions were identified for councillors including plans to boost active travel, invest in play parks and working more closing with district and parish colleagues.
Brighton and Hove Council employs a multi-agency, stepped care approach to support children and young people’s mental health. These services are embedded in every secondary school, extend to primary schools and colleges, and offer a range of interventions to support mental health at all levels.
Helping Hands is a partnership between Phoenix Detached Youth Project and Connexions, North Tyneside, providing integrated support for mental health, emotional wellbeing, education, and employment. The programme offers ongoing group and 1:1 support for young people facing challenges like anxiety, low mood, and social isolation.
Coventry and Warwickshire’s health and wellbeing boards (HWB) had been meeting jointly for a number of years; Partners in Care and Health (PCH) brought in amid concern this partnership work was duplicating the move towards integrated care systems; focus of the HWBs and integrated care partnerships sharpened thanks to fresh perspective and challenging questions posed by PCH peers.
Partners in Care and Health (PCH) peers provided support to improve integrated working at place; workshops were held leading to two workstreams on admissions avoidance and discharge to assess. The new director of adult social services says the process helped her hit the ground running.