National awards shortlisting success for Stockport Council

Stockport Council has been shortlisted for two more national awards for its recent warm spaces and hybrid working projects.

The council’s warm spaces programme, which ran from November 2022 to March 2023, has been shortlisted in the Best Community and Neighbourhood Initiative at this year’s Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) Awards.

The warm spaces initiative saw at least one warm space open in every ward of the borough, allowing residents struggling with the rising cost of energy and wider cost-of-living crisis to spend time in a comfortable, welcoming environment for free. Colleagues from the council worked alongside community organisations to provide funding for over 100 warm spaces, as well as help to advertise their locations to residents.

Cllr Frankie Singleton, Cabinet Member for Culture, Communities and Sport, commented:

“The warm spaces initiative was truly pioneering and to have been recognised in this way is a fantastic achievement for a scheme that we saw first-hand make a real difference to our residents across the borough. This really was a joint effort, and demonstrates the power of working together across organisations and sectors to support our residents during the winter months.”

The winners will be announced in September.

The council was also shortlisted in the ‘Best Innovation in Smart Working’ category at this year’s Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Workforce Awards. The awards submission detailed how Stockport Council has adopted digital practices to improve efficiency, wellbeing and environmental impact with regard to our colleagues following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Following the switch to hybrid working, the council has introduced new, modern devices for colleagues, as well as switching to cloud-based software like Sharepoint and Office 365, in line with its ambition to become a radically digital council. This has allowed colleagues to work wherever they are, easily able to access the tools they need to do their job.

The council also set up an online community, with the Digital Learning team building a specific Sharepoint site for tips and tricks to help aid colleagues with using the new technology. The next stage is for colleagues from the council to present to a judging panel in November.

Cllr Jilly Julian, Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources at Stockport Council, commented:

“I’m so proud of all the colleagues who worked on these projects and who’s dedication means we are shortlisted. The diversity between the two awards we have been shortlisted for shows the breadth of talent we have across the council, and the innovative work that is going on across services. Look out for further communications on our social media channels where we will be sharing the results of the ceremonies once they come in. Good luck Team Stockport!”