Case studies

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.

This case study shows the excellent work that public health in local government is doing to commission for quality and best value across all areas.

Norfolk County Council has established a high-performing specialist county team that supports the emotional, cultural, health, social and educational needs of Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) who arrive in the county.

Norfolk Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) is the forum for system leaders across the wider local health and care system and works closely with the Norfolk and Waveney Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP) (Waveney is an area in East Suffolk). This case study forms part of our integrated care systems (ICS) resource.

The Norfolk Teenage Parent Pathway (TPP) was launched in 2017 and was the culmination of a service redesign; to broaden the reach of support to all teenage parents within Norfolk.

Norfolk has a well-established Healthy Libraries scheme that is having a significant impact on social isolation and loneliness. The library service runs a range of initiatives from singing and colouring groups to a reading project aimed at people who are housebound. They have played a vital role in keeping people living in the large rural county connected both before and during the pandemic.

At more than 5,000sq kilometres, Norfolk is one of the largest counties in England. To cover such a big area, the county council has set up a network of mobile testing teams rather than rely on static sites. It has allowed the teams to target testing at the neighbourhoods with the most need as well as support local businesses and big events.

Norfolk County Council has worked with a voluntary sector group to run a project aimed at tackling obesity among pregnant women and new mothers. It is a bottom-up community-driven approach which has seen women in one of the county’s most deprived areas given training to help create sustainable change.

Blue Biosphere is a net-zero economic development programme collaborating across Torridge and North Devon to stimulate marine and catchment jobs and raise social mobility through development of Blue Carbon projects, improved fisheries management, marine conservation as well as Blue Growth targeted to deliver high-value jobs to the coastal community.

North Devon's Biosphere Reserve is jointly funded by Devon County Council, North Devon Council and Torridge District Council. The Biosphere is launching an ambitious new Nature Recovery Plan as our contribution to tackling the ecological emergency here in northern Devon.