Georgia Gould MP, the Minister for Public Service Reform, visited Liverpool City Region in May to learn more about the innovative work taking place to improve public services across the region.
Hosted by Capacity CIC and Kindred, the Minister met with Mayor of Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram, Liverpool Council Leader Liam Robinson, Liverpool Riverside MP Kim Johnson, Birkenhead MP and Minister for Work and Pensions Alison McGovern and some of the organisations transforming public services and places in Liverpool City Region.
The visit included roundtable discussions highlighting the region’s role in pioneering new ways to put local communities at the heart of designing and delivering public services.
The Minister also met local organisations including Kindred investee Open Door Charity in Birkenhead, alongside Transform Lives, Plus Dane, Office for Public Service Innovation, Juno and Koala at Jobs Plus in Toxteth, to discuss how they are putting new ideas into action to improve the lives of people across Liverpool City Region.
Georgia Gould MP, the Minister for Public Service Reform, said: “My recent visit to Liverpool City Region was a powerful reminder that when the ideas of local social entrepreneurs are combined with leaders from public services, who trust, support and invest, we can deliver the type of outcomes our communities need and show where our system needs to change.
“Capacity, Kindred, the teams working in local government and all the social entrepreneurs I met are blending social investment, public service reform, and local regeneration to collectively build the future we all want to see.”
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: “Welcoming the Minister to the Liverpool City Region was a fantastic opportunity to showcase the pioneering work we’re doing to reimagine public services – and to make the case for why it deserves national backing.
“Across our region, we’re putting innovation into practice – shifting power to communities, building trust with service users, and delivering support that’s designed around real lives. It’s already helping to improve outcomes in areas like children’s care, mental health and employment.
“We’re leading the way nationally on public service innovation – and we were proud to show the Minister how our region is using that approach to tackle complex challenges in a way that’s more human, more effective and more sustainable. With the right support, we can go even further helping to shape a model of public service that works for the future and for everyone.”
Erika Rushton is Kindred’s Programme Director. She said: “The evidence from Kindred shows that community entrepreneurs design services that use lived experience to make systems work better for them, their families, friends and whole communities. Working with Capacity CIC shows these services are viable, cost effective and scalable. And, working with local authorities, a network of social innovation clusters – test and learn sites – are now attracting other economic activity, giving new purpose to places traditional industrial strategies have failed over the last 30 years.”
Chris Catterall, Capacity Chief Executive, said: “By shifting power to our communities and designing public services around people and their lives, organisations in the region are radically rethinking our approach to public services. It was fantastic to show the Minister the transformation taking place in the city region.”