Civil servants will be sent to ten communities in England to work alongside local authorities and service users in an expansion of the government’s “test-and-learn” trials.
Officials will be deployed to Barnsley, Wakefield, Manchester, Liverpool, Sandwell, Northumberland, Essex, Plymouth and Nottingham, where they will be asked “to tackle the biggest challenges directly affecting local communities and people”.
The “innovation squads” – which will include a mix of policy officials, tech specialists and other experts – have an “explicit mandate to try new things and be creative, collaborating directly with frontline workers and people using services”.
The teams will look at challenges including: 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 scheme will be extended to devolved governments next year, and is also set to be launched in the coming weeks in London.
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.”
The "test-and-learn" approach was trialled in four areas across England – Manchester, Sheffield, Essex and Liverpool – from January, following an announcement in December by Pat McFadden, the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. McFadden said the trial teams would be given the freedom to experiment and adapt – “adopting the ‘test-and-learn’ mindset of Silicon Valley” – and would be “empowered” to “experiment, innovate and try new things”.
The Cabinet Office said the team in Sheffield has tested new ways to get more families through the door of local family hubs, resulting in many more local families using the hubs. Meanwhile, the Liverpool-based team has worked with the council to build an innovative data-led platform to manage temporary accommodation.
A £100m "test, learn and grow" fund was provided for in the October Budget to deploy the teams around the country. In his December speech, McFadden said each of these projects would initially be "small” and wouldn't "reshape the state by themselves", but "could help improve the way we that we work across the whole of government and start to rewire the state one test at a time”.