Local government & public services

Response to the Levelling Up White Paper

Publication 14 February 2022

Our report addresses the ‘missions’ of the government’s Levelling Up White Paper and proposes action to work ‘radically differently’ by involving local people and communities to drive meaningful change. 

Why don’t they ask us? The role of communities in levelling up

Publication 14 July 2021

How have policies and interventions for local economic development affected communities in England? As the government commits to ‘ensure no region is left behind’, our research explores what works for UK communities – and what doesn’t.

Bridging the Divide: Social entrepreneurs and commissioners on public sector contracting

Publication 18 December 2013

Successive UK governments have pursued an agenda of opening up public services to alternative providers from the private and third sectors, with the stated aim of diversifying provision in order to promote competition, efficiency and innovation. The current coalition government

Stimulating and supporting innovation within your organisation & system – Health at The Young Foundation

Publication 20 March 2013

The bedrock of the NHS is currently shifting. The future stage has been set by huge structural changes, a need for massive savings, the necessity of working across partnerships and sectors, all combined with a renewed drive to truly put

The NHS and Civil Society – The Young Foundation and Health

Publication 20 March 2013

We believe that the NHS needs to access the strengths of civil society to do its job in the 21st century. To cope with the changing disease burden and growing financial pressures, the NHS needs to take advantage of the

Data and the patient – The Young Foundation and Health

Publication 20 March 2013

We believe the major issues facing the NHS cannot be solved without changing the way the NHS uses information. The NHS need to be more proactive, integrated, and patient centred, or it will crumble under the twin pressures of an

Doctor Know: A knowledge commons in health

Publication 13 March 2013

The Young Foundation and Nesta believe that the way knowledge is generated and applied in healthcare will change dramatically over the next decades, and has the potential to transform the way patients experience care, and how they make decisions about

Grow Your Own: How local authorities can support social enterprise

Publication 1 November 2011

Social enterprises have long been established in Britain, providing a range of products and services whilst also delivering social value. In 2011, as a sector, social enterprise was still emerging but attracting more attention – largely driven by public spending

Managing the risks of neighbourhood governance

Publication 1 August 2010

This discussion paper puts forward a framework for managing the risks of neighbourhood governance: There are strong arguments in support of neighbourhoods being given the powers to act on very local issues, to control local liveability services and community assets,

Cohesive Communities

Publication 1 July 2010

This report was commissioned by Local Government Improvement and Development to investigate how local authorities and the voluntary and community sector (VCS) can work more productively together to build empowered and cohesive communities. The research took place over a period

Listen, Participate, Transform: A social media framework for local government

Publication 30 June 2010

This think-piece, the second in a series from the Young Foundation’s Local 2.0 project, provides local authorities with a simple, practical framework to base their social media activity on. For those working in local government, social media is soon to

Innovation and ideas development – a summary

Publication 1 April 2010

This paper rounds up the work of the London Collaborative from May 2009: it includes three innovations methods, each introduced to the London Leadership Network and explored through a practical project targeting a pressing social need. The paper outlines: Highlights