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.
Derbyshire County Council's holistic approach to supporting communities means that support for harder to reach young people is embedded within several wider schemes or programmes of support. This includes through the Thriving Communities programme.
Durham County Council delivers a cross-county programme called DurhamWorks which supports unemployed 16-24 year olds to progress into employment, education or training (EET). To date, DurhamWorks has supported 8750 young people with 78 per cent progressing into EET or gaining a qualification. This provides the framework within which the Sessional Employment Programme (SEP) sits.
Norfolk's approach to supporting pathways for the hard-to-reach groups in the Council is not documented in a single published strategy but is evident through the range of more specific council strategies for supporting vulnerable and hard-to-reach young people. This includes those with special education needs or disabilities (SEND), youth offenders, and those in care or leaving care.
Bright Minds, Big Futures (BMBF) is a youth-led movement working together with Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council to make the borough a great place to grow up.
The Streetbase Peer Engagement programme takes place in Waltham Forest, London. Street-level youth patrol teams, made up of young people aged 16-25, speak to other young people in the borough about their views, needs and opinions.
Oldham Youth Council (OYC) prepared and presented a motion to full council for the council to pay the prescription charges for care leavers for whom they are corporate parents.
The #ReduceDomesticAbuse campaign was initiated by Doncaster Youth Council as a result of the UK Youth Parliament Make Your Mark ballot, and also coincided with Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council’s plans to develop a domestic abuse prevention campaign.
The Pan London Care Leavers Offer forms part of the work by the Association of London Directors of Children’s Services (ALDCS) and is led by a strategic working group of policy makers from ALDCS, London Councils, Partnership for Young London (PYL) and The Greater London Authority.
The ‘Unacceptable’ project took place in Essex in the East of England. It was a response from Essex County Council to national concerns raised by Ofsted and NSPCC about sexual violence in schools.
The strategic approach taken by Warwickshire County Council demonstrates how children and young people’s involvement in policy and decision making can be grown and embedded across a council.