Newham LBC

This award is open to a single council or where appropriate a partnership of councils, or a council-owned company. Private sector partners can enter on a council’s behalf, with the permission of the council itself. Many councils are seeking to establish a new relationship with local people and local communities. Community involvement and engagement is increasingly important as a way of shaping council thinking, contributing to service design and improvement and to responding to continuing resource pressures. It may also involve direct community involvement in service delivery. This award is intended to showcase the whole range of community involvement.

The People Powered Newham programme empowers residents to develop strategies and shape budgets that lead to action on the ground and is already achieving lasting change. Highlights include the country’s first permanent citizens assembly that supports delivery of a £40m programme of 15 minute neighbourhoods; investment of £3.2m in eight community assemblies allocating grants to hyperlocal priorities which have already delivered over 50 resident-led projects; launch of the UK’s first community-led longitudinal research with the Newham Citizen Science Academy; a pioneering young people’s charter developed by young people themselves; and the co-created Tackling, Racism, Inequality and Disproportionality programme.