Case studies

Wiltshire Council has enlisted the help of library staff and community groups to provide basic energy advice to local residents. The staff and groups can volunteer for online training on issues around energy efficiency, providing an accessible community-based resource across the county.

The LGA funded a consortium of nine local authorities from Kent and Medway and the NHS in collaboration with The Behaviouralist to develop an intervention that leveraged behavioural insights to encourage local residents to reduce energy usage at home

For St Helens Borough Council, research had shown fuel and food poverty was going to be a big issue for the borough. A Cost of Living Action Group was set up with partners to identify where support was needed to be targeted and how they could work together to support those in need. The council with partners, have set up a network of warm spaces for residents, support sessions and supported food banks in the community through generous donations and fundraising.

Children and young people's mental health has been deteriorating increasingly fast since the COVID pandemic and has become a key area of concern for local authorities.

Traditional forms of consultation were not proving effective at reaching the diverse communities of Walworth, an area of Southwark undergoing rapid change. Working with a range of stakeholders, Southwark Council set out to have place-based conversations with as wide a range of local residents as possible.

Seeking to identify ways to close gaps of employment, deprivation and engagement in one of Bolton’s most deprived areas, Bolton Council provided funding and significant freedom of action to a housing association, as the best-embedded organisation within the community, to experiment with innovative forms of community engagement where traditional approaches had failed.

West Berkshire’s engagement officer noticed that the pandemic period saw a wider demographic of people responding to council consultations, communications and initiatives than previously, including increased engagement from children and young people. There was a desire to harness and build on this increased engagement, so a range of initiatives were launched to educate residents on the council’s role and responsibilities.