It’s a well-worn maxim that insanity is doing the same thing time and again and expecting different results. Yet that is still how many of us think and behave. The winners of the Guardian Public Service Awards 2017 are the exception: they have paused, thought and come up with fresh ways of delivering services that are yielding huge benefits.
Our overall winner, Hertfordshire county council, ticks almost every box with its new approach to child protection. With time spent by children in the care system down 50%, no wonder other councils are now trying the same. Two other category winners, Swansea council and Highgate primary school in north London, have similarly swum upstream of developing family and behavioural problems that can require costly interventions by multiple agencies. More importantly, they are transforming children’s lives.
Airedale NHS foundation trust has thought, and acted, differently about supporting people who stammer, not just locally, but across the country. Warwickshire county council has opened “charity tip shops” at its household waste centres. Charity Hope into Action has come up with an inspired way of housing homeless people. And Greater Manchester Police is achieving remarkable results in the diversity of its recruitment by, yes, doing things differently.
We have two individual winners. Paul Allen, a social work manager for Manchester city council, scoops our leadership excellence trophy for the way he motivates his children and families team. And Stephen Smith, our public servant of the year, has been chosen by a readers’ vote for his tireless work over more than 25 years in Lancashire for people who, like him, have a learning disability.
Thanks to all who voted, to our valued sponsors and the hundreds of entrants for the awards. Public service is changing, and for the better.
