Kirklees Council shortlisted for four national awards for its innovative work

In what has been a record year for entries from local authorities across the country, Kirklees Council has been shortlisted in four different categories in the 2020 Local Government Chronicle (LGC) awards.

Jacqui Gedman, Chief Executive of Kirklees Council, said: “I’m incredibly proud to see that the hard work of our staff every day is being recognised.

“We’re a council that prides itself on putting residents at the heart of what we do and to be shortlisted for such a variety of different national awards recognises this.

“We’re on a journey in Kirklees and have real ambition to make our borough a truly extraordinary place. We are well on our way to achieving this and are making fantastic progress which is constantly improving the everyday lives of residents.

“This is just the start, we will build on this and continue with the hard work and drive change that makes Kirklees a better place for everyone who lives, works and visits.”

Kirklees Council and Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing’s (KNH) approach to creating an inclusive working environment has been shortlisted for the Diversity and Inclusion award.

To ensure better workforce diversity, Kirklees Council and KNH have actively changed the recruitment process around apprentices, resident engagement and working environment to promote inclusivity.

In 2018 the council established a partnership with the Inclusive Employers Network.

As part of an action plan, the council has committed to delivering an accessible apprenticeship programme which better benefits people from disadvantaged and under-represented groups in Kirklees.

This year both organisations received over 1,000 apprentice applications (649 council and 423 KHN). Drastically increasing since the previous year’s intake by 375 for KNH and 290 for the council.

Engagement has resulted in an increase in female applicants from 29.91 per cent to 41.79 per cent; BAME applications from 26.18 per cent to 27.99 per cent; applications from over 30 year olds from 4.98 per cent to 17.53 per cent; and applications from disabled people from 1.25 per cent to 4.85 per cent.

Of the six female apprentices recruited by KNH, four have gone into building trades to become joiners, electricians or gas fitters.

Thriving Kirklees, a partnership approach to children’s health services, has been shortlisted in the Best Service Delivery Model category.

£10.5 million has been invested into the pioneering Thriving Kirklees partnership, where five local organisations join forces to benefit children and young peoples’ health. It is the only programme nationally to deliver all emotional health and wellbeing services as one pathway, and has received much attention from other authorities looking to commission a similar model.

Kirklees Council’s Library Service has been shortlisted in the Community Involvement category.

This journey began in 2015, when the views of over 6,000 residents, encouraged the council to improve its relationship with local communities. By creating a co-operative environment where community voices prompted change, protest groups became active friends groups.

Approximately 500 volunteers now help with the day to day running of the library service; with the involvement of Friends of Groups taking this figure to 1,000.

The increase of volunteering commitment has grown enormously: in 2014/15, volunteers gave 5,773 hours, by the end of 2019/20 this figure is expected to rise to 55,128 hours.

The volunteers and Friends of Groups have significantly increased the capacity and quality of offer within the libraries.

Finally, the council has also been shortlisted for the LGC’s Driving Efficiency Through Technology award for its work to digitalise customer service centres.

Huddersfield and Dewsbury now have Customer Service Centres to make the council more accessible.

Whilst the new Customer Service Centres have been open some time, technological innovation has expanded rapidly. The Centres are now awash with technology that has achieved new heights in efficiency.

This includes 37 public access computers and telephones. Every transaction moved to digital not only saves money but it is also more efficient. For example, 2,270 Kirklees Passport applications are made a year, taking approximately 15 minutes each, now 100 per cent online – saving around £11,000 a year as well as being more convenient.

There were 31,000 face-to-face appointments annually, to scan customer evidence needed for housing benefit applications. The council worked with a designer to develop an app which guides customers through the process so they can do it themselves in their own time. This save saves £114,000 annually.

The winners of the LGC Awards will be announced at a ceremony in London on 18 March 2020.