Case studies

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.

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.

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.

Bournemouth Borough Council has taken a once-in-a-generation opportunity to co-ordinate and shape the town centre's development.

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.

Investing in Weston town centre.