Bath & North East Somerset Council has been shortlisted in three categories in the Local Government Chronicle Awards; transforming workplaces, children’s services and health and wellbeing.
Leader of the Council, Cllr Tim Warren (Conservative, Mendip), said: “It’s good to see that so much of the innovative work going on within our organisation is being recognised nationally in this way.
“Our four-year financial plan aims to protect essential frontline services as far as possible by increasing efficiency, growing income and finding new and innovative ways of delivering vital local services.
“This is the 20th anniversary of the awards and this is our best performance yet – we have had finalists before, but never three in one year.”
Bath & North East Somerset Council has been shortlisted in the following categories:
Business Transformation – Workplaces
The Council has been shortlisting for its ambitious four-year Workplaces programme which has transformed the way it works.
This has saved over £3 million a year, introduced multi-agency One Stop Shops and reinvented ICT systems, with staff working flexibly from fewer offices whilst putting customer service to the forefront.
The savings are already being reinvested to protect essential frontline service. One small example of the success is the annual energy bill for the new Civic Centre and One Stop Shop in Keynsham; this is now just £7,000 compared with £180,000 for the old Riverside Offices and Library.
Team of the Year- Early Years ‘Dealers in Hope’
A team working in the Children’s Services department has been shortlisted. Faced with budget challenges, they have remained focused on high quality delivery whilst exploring new models of delivery to support activity which will benefit local children and families.
Health and Wellbeing Board of the Year
The strength of the close relationship between the Council and Bath and North East Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group and successful collaboration with organisations across the local health and care system, has been recognised through this shortlisting ‘Effective Health and Wellbeing Boards’.
The Board has a clear and ambitious vision to deliver outstanding health and care for local people and is committed to tackling the difficult issues faced locally around health inequalities and pressures on urgent care.
Local Government Chronicle editor Nick Golding said: “To be shortlisted for an LGC Award shows that a council’s work in this particular area is something that can inspire the rest of local government.
“We have had, just about, a record number of organisations entering this year’s awards, making the competition stiffer than ever.
“The quality of the entries goes to show that councils are striving to innovate to improve services at a time they must cut costs.”
There will be judging days for each award category between 25th January and 1st February, with the awards final being hosted on Wednesday 16th March, at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London.
