Awards shortlist success for Stockport Council

The Local Government Chronicle (LGC) awards are taking place on 8th June in London. These awards recognise excellence in local government across the country, so Stockport is really honoured to have been shortlisted in two categories.

Our New Beginnings programme, part of our work as Stockport Family, has been shortlisted in the Children’s Services category. New Beginnings is a unique partnership and works intensively with families where there are child protection concerns, to support parents to become the kind of carers they want to be. The programme offers parents access to wraparound support services through trauma informed group work, counselling, art therapy and housing and benefits support from the local authority. The 24-week programme has been a huge success in preventing children from entering the care system, with parents offered the opportunity to become peer mentors following completion of the course so they can share their lived experience and support other parents on their New Beginnings journey and gain valuable training and employment skills.

We’ve also been shortlisted in the Diversity and Inclusion category at the LGC Awards. Our Ethnic Diversity service, an education service supporting schools, children and young people who are learning English as an additional language, is the shortlisted team, for their work in supporting asylum seekers, refugees and evacuees coming to Stockport. The team work closely with partners such as Stockport Homes to provide skilled interpreters, allowing people in Stockport with English as a second language a chance to integrate into the community and explore all the opportunities available to them.

The Stockport Interpreting Unit (SIU) also work with the Stockport Continuing Education Service to provide opportunities for learners to gain their Ascentis Level 3 Certificate in Community Interpreting, and enter employment with the SIU straight away.

There are also the Public Service People Managers Association (PPMA) Awards, which recognise outstanding professionalism in the Human Resources (HR) and Organisational Development (OD) fields. Stockport has also been shortlisted for two awards in this year’s PPMA Awards: in the ‘Best Workforce Transformation/Change Initiative’ and the ‘Service Superstar Team’ awards categories.

Nominated for the ‘Service Superstar Team’ Award is the council’s HR Operations team, which includes payroll, recruitment, employee relations and improvement teams. This award is particularly special because it commends a team for their quiet, business as usual work which helps keep the council moving.

Our submission in the ‘Best Workforce Transformation/Change Initiative’ category focused on our approach to embed digital and design services at the heart of our HR and OD work, as part of our drive to become a radically digital borough. This has seen a change at the heart of our working culture, challenging the way we have done things in the past.

Councillor Mark Hunter, Leader of Stockport Council, commented: “I am so proud that Stockport has been shortlisted for these awards. The diversity of the work that has been shortlisted demonstrates our strength across the council, which is something we can really be proud of. It’s the quiet, often overlooked, business as usual work that is perhaps our biggest strength as a local authority and, with all the projects shortlisted, it’s fantastic to be recognised in this way. I look forward to the ceremonies where we will learn the outcome!”

To find out more about the LGC Awards visit the LGC website. To find out more about the PPMA Awards visit the PPMA website.