Delivering Differently fund supports public service innovation
25 Mar 2014 11:53 AM
10 local authorities
will receive up to £100,000 funding to help transform their public
services.
10
pioneering local authorities have been chosen to receive support from the
Delivering Differently Challenge. More than 150 local authorities across
England applied for the support. The successful applicants demonstrated
innovative approaches and showed that they were committed to trying new models
of delivering services, eg:
- spinning services out into staff-led
mutuals
- setting up joint ventures with the private
sector
- working with voluntary and community
groups.
The
10 local authorities are:
- Wirral Council and Cheshire West
& Chester Council (School Support)
- Devon County Council (Libraries, Youth and Day
Care)
- Dover District Council (Heritage)
- Kingston upon Hull Council (Social
Care)
- Kirklees Council Environment (Open
Spaces)
- Manchester City Council (Domestic
Violence)
- North East Lincolnshire Council
(Environment)
- Nottinghamshire County Council (Children’s
Disability)
- Portsmouth City Council (Community
Safety)
- Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council (Adult
Learning)
Walsall Adult and Community College
Walsall Adult and Community College (WACC) is one of the
organisations that will benefit. WACC was the first organisation to
be judged Outstanding by OFSTED under the new, more rigorous, inspection
framework introduced in 2012. They have turned to Delivering Differently to
help them diversify and expand their services by developing a new model that
provides the flexibility and growth found in the wider education and training
sectors.
Dover District Council
Another is Dover District Council – the first
local authority in the country to develop a Heritage Strategy. Dover wants to
transform the delivery of its museum and tourism service to get maximum value
for money, enhance currently untapped sites such as the Napoleonic Western
Heights and promote the district as one of the UK’s tourist hotspots. It
is the first time that a heritage service has considered transforming the way
its services are delivered, and future options include creating a heritage
co-operative, mutual or trust, to bring together heritage assets managed by a
range of providers.
Paul Watkins, Leader of Dover District Council,
said:
We
are delighted to be one of the 10 successful projects selected for the
Delivering Differently Challenge. Dover boasts some of the country’s most
important heritage assets, and this project will unlock their potential to
contribute to economic growth and regeneration, whilst also providing a more
sustainable future for these assets.
Delivering Differently
The
Delivering Differently Challenge is a joint programme between the Cabinet
Office, the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Local
Government Association (LGA) and the Society of Local Authority Chief
Executives (SOLACE). The programme provides £1 million worth of
professional support to help 10 local authorities develop and put in place new
models for delivering their chosen service areas.
Minister for the Cabinet Office Francis Maude
said:
The
entire public sector needs to do more with less while providing services that
work better for local people, and I’m pleased that we can support 10
pioneering councils from across the country who want to take control of their
services and leave state bureaucracy behind.