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.
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.
The strategy was produced with the help of a number of stakeholders, including public bodies, agencies, communities and citizens. Lambeth Citizens, part of Citizens UK, were hired as an integral part of the strategy's production, using their knowledge and expertise of the area to create a strategy which would be most beneficial to residents.
Between 2009 and 2010, a project known as ‘You Decide!' was given £4.76 million by the Tower Hamlet's Council, plus an additional £300,000 by the local Primary Care Trust (PCT), totalling over £5 million over the two years.
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.
Involving older people case studies
Leeds City Council created a website where older people, their relatives and carers, could find the right information quickly. To support older people's engagement with the website, the team have since set up a network of computer training courses.
Wakefield Council created an innovative new housing company in partnership to accelerate the delivery of new homes and generate revenue for further housing investment in their district.
The case studies featured here demonstrate how councils are getting their local communities involved in tackling a broad range of issues and challenges.