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.
Portsmouth City Council, as part of Solent Transport, have teamed up with Voi to promote their discounts available to those on low income, students and those serving their community. Voi have focused on making the shared e-scooter scheme in Portsmouth, which is funded by the Solent Future Transport Zone, and e-bike service elsewhere as accessible as possible to everyone.
Exeter City Council have been constructing buildings to Passivhaus standards since 2009, using their triple bottom line approach to deliver high quality builds, by being socially, environmentally and financially responsible. Since starting to deliver Passivhaus homes, they have developed and built nearly 150 homes to these standards. The process of designing and building so many different types of structure, has enabled them to improve their delivery model and in doing so reduce the overall cost.
Nearly every home in the UK has the potential to use less fuel for heating, lighting and appliances. To support home and building owners with understanding how they can make their homes more energy efficient and comfortable, Greater Manchester has set up Your Home Better, a one-stop-shop to support people with advice, finding contractors, as well as overseeing installation.
Living Roofs contribute towards climate resistance, through absorbing rainwater falling on the roof, helping to reduce the ‘Urban Heat Island Effect’, capturing particulates from the air, and helping make the city a greener and happier place. The roofs are made from a mix of 13 native wildflower and 5 sedum species; selected by experts to aid and support bees and other pollinators.
Devon County Council have supported Altilitech through the Green Innovation Fund to scale-up their proprietary process for recycling electric vehicle (EV) batteries to a commercial operation. Verified by the University of Plymouth, the innovative method recovers over 95 per cent of the critical metals contained within spent batteries at a quality for reuse in new batteries. Altilitech operates under a circular economy model; retaining value in the local economy whilst reducing the toxic waste and emissions produced in mining.
Tower Hamlets Council has established a Food Hub which empowers over 60 Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations in serving residents in the borough, and also supports the Council’s FOOD Store pantry programme – a dignity-focused membership model that tackles both food insecurity and root cause issues.
Recognising online applications and attitudes to claiming financial support were low amongst older residents, Lewes District and Eastbourne Borough Councils ran a multi-channel campaign to assist them in obtaining cost of living support.
Kent County Council have worked to strengthen referrals across Kent for those in financial hardship to mitigate the action of signposting. ‘ReferKent’ has been introduced, which is an online platform that allows a simple, easy, and secure referrals to be made by organisations to one another. Supporting this, the Money Advice Network has also been implemented and gives the council the ability to directly refer to them.
Reviewed October 2024: This case study shows how Lancashire County Council is working towards significantly streamlining its data acquisition, manipulation, and visualisation processes through the LG Inform Plus API.