130 Local Authority, public service and business leaders gathered in Manchester on 16th November to celebrate at iNetwork’s third Annual Innovation Awards in partnership with EY.
Over the course of the evening, awards were presented in nine categories for innovation and impact in the field of public service delivery. Competition was fierce with 50 nominations and over 2000 public votes from across England. Award winners included Wigan Council’s Share to Care programme, Stockport MBC’s digital advice programme and St Helens Council Recycling Rewards.
Bolton Council won the top award of the evening; “Outstanding Contribution to public service innovation” which was presented by Darra Singh, Head of Government and Public Sector at EY, presented the Outstanding Contribution Award alongside iNetwork Chair and Chief Exec of Tameside Council Steven Pleasant.
Representatives from Bolton Council collecting the Outstanding Contribution Award.
Pictured with Steven Pleasant and Darra Singh
For a full list of all the award winners and details of their inspiring projects, visit the winners page on our awards and conference website.
Fierce competition between the nominees combined with a mutual admiration for the service and life changing projects showcased made for a buzzing atmosphere on the night. Each finalist presented a short video outlining the aims, journey and achievements of their projects. Towards the end of the evening a special award was presented to North Yorkshire County Council for the most creative video.
Steven Pleasant, Chair of the iNetwork partnership and Chief Executive of Tameside Council, said of the ceremony: “It has been such an amazing evening. It has shown how hard and creatively public sector colleagues are working to support their communities”.
Darra commented: “We’ve seen the very best of the public sector here and it’s great to see such a variety of creative nominations. iNetwork continues to attract and shine a spotlight on the fabulous contribution that public servants make to improving people’s lives. This commitment to innovation will ensure that our public services can continue to meet current and future challenges.”
Learnings and best practice from the award finalists was carried forward into the following day when many of the nominees and winners presented at iNetwork’s “Changing places: delivering on place based change” conference. They featured in an agenda alongside senior figures in public service reform such as: Rt Hon. Hazel Blears, Andrew Lightfoot GMCA, Jon Rouse GM Health and Social Care Partnership and Dr Carolyn Wilkins OBE.
The iNetwork team would like to warmly thank everyone involved at this year’s Innovation Awards, particularly those who worked on the inspiring projects that we were so proud to showcase and to EY for partnering with us and making the entire evening possible. Special thanks also go to those who took the time out of their busy schedules to nominate, vote on and judge the award submissions.
This year’s awards were a great bit of fun and certainly raised the bar when it comes to sharing excellence in public services. Time now to look to next year, we look forward to seeing what fantastic, life improving work you get up to in 2017 and it will be a privilege to, once again, celebrate that cause with you in style.
