Case studies

Durham has developed a strong early help and prevention offer. This approach has supported in rebalancing the system, taking pressure out of the social care system with impact being seen sustained outcomes for children and their families and in lower numbers of child in need.

Following a review by the Emergency Care Improvement Programme (ECIP) in October 2016, County Durham and Darlington Local Area Delivery Board has implemented a system-wide set of changes to improve performance. This example of a local initiative forms part of our managing transfers of care resource.

Developing a multi-sector workforce for community-based arts in health promotion Summary

Durham County Council’s public health team went through the review and re-structure process in 2017. The team transitioned from the NHS to the council in 2013 and the review was needed to help the team be more embedded within the council.

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.

Durham County Council (DCC) declared a climate emergency in 2019 and wanted to work with partners and local communities to lower air pollution and help residents save money on fuel costs. 30 per cent of emissions comes from road transport, and the council needed to support residents in making the switch to electric vehicles. DCC became part of a consortium, supported by Innovate UK to help those residents. DCC were granted funding to install 100 Electric Vehicle charge points in the Durham area.

Rollercoaster project supporting parents and carers of children and young people with emotional and mental health problems.

Procurement fraud is regularly reported to be the single largest area of financial loss to local government. It is vulnerable because there are multiple ways to commit fraud and is also vulnerable to being exploited by Organised Crime Groups (OCGs).

Healthy Start is a national scheme which helps young families and those pregnant on low incomes to access nutritious food, milk and vitamins. Figures are published on its take-up at local authority level, with one of the best rates of take-up being County Durham. In February 2023 the England average uptake was 63.5 per cent, while the figure for County Durham was 73 per cent.

Over the past year there has been considerable media speculation as to the carbon impacts of enforced homeworking. Has working from home helped to reduce carbon emissions? The home working energy usage project sought to take advantage of the enforced homeworking that became essential for most non-frontline staff at Durham County Council and Durham University to explore the empirical truth.