Case studies

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.

With the onset of COVID-19, Durham County Council needed to identify vulnerable individuals in the area and target them with specific assistance services.

In March 2018, Dundee City Council signed the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, committing the Dundee Partnership to develop a Climate Action Plan within two years to reduce city-wide carbon emissions by 40% by 2030.

The Family Nurse Partnership service has revamped its approach to smoking cessation by giving staff extra training and testing kits to improve the support they offer pregnant women. It seems to be working – twice as many are giving up by 36 weeks than were previously. This case study is an example of the work that councils are doing to support young parents.

Dudley is a predominantly urban borough in the West Midlands, with five main towns interspersed with smaller towns and urban villages. It has a population of around 313,000 people, and a mix of affluent and disadvantaged areas. Nearly a quarter of the population live in areas that are in the 20 per cent most deprived in England.

Highlighting the dangers of child sexual exploitation (CSE) is an important priority for councils and their partners throughout the country.

A project to introduce, promote and expand an online portal for businesses, residents and landlords to view at a variety of revenues and benefits information.

North Yorkshire County Council adopted a whole-service approach which has three key elements