Innovation squads to boost local public services

The government has announced that new innovation squads will be rolled out to boost public services.

The squads will back community ideas and work with the frontline as part of a £100 million ‘Test, Learn and Grow’ reform programme to deliver the Plan for Change.

The teams will be deployed from central government and will work alongside local government and service users to tackle the biggest challenges affecting local communities.

This includes increasing the uptake of Best Start Family Hubs to support parents and young children, establishing neighbourhood health services, better supporting children with special needs, getting more people into work, rolling out breakfast clubs, and tackling violence against women and girls.

The squads will work with tech experts and will be empowered to try new things and be creative.

The approach has already seen success in trials across the country. In Sheffield, innovation squads tested new ways to get more families through the door of local family hubs, resulting in many more local families using the hubs and in Liverpool, they worked with the council to build an innovative data-led platform to manage temporary accommodation. 

Cabinet Office Minister, Georgia Gould said: "For too long residents and frontline workers have had to navigate fragmented and underfunded public services, people feeling like they have to arm up to battle to get the support they need. 

"We are going to end this. The test, learn and grow programme will bring the centre of government out of Whitehall and into communities, working with those who deliver and use public services to solve problems together, as part of our Plan for Change. We will reform public services from the ground up so people always come first."