Kent County Council set up the Social Innovation Lab for Kent (SILK) in 2007 to capitalise on the perspectives of service users and front-line staff in tackling tough social problems.

SILK started with two projects, on families at risk and on how people access information about social care. These tested hunches about what approaches might work, drawing insight through methods from the worlds of design, social science and community development. SILK has gone on to develop staff capacity to innovate in many person-centred ways, with a proven methodology and toolkit (see http://socialinnovation.typepad.com/silk/).

SILK has contributed to diverse improvements, eg, in parental engagement, in healthy living, in resettlement of offenders, and in the wider use of customer insight. Its work has brought about changed thinking in a range of strategies including community engagement, financial inclusion and social care – much in keeping with Big Society thinking.

This overview highlights areas that have responsed to the impact of the recession in new and innovative ways. Sometimes expanding activities already on the stocks to meet increased needs, sometimes breaking entirely new ground.

Warrington Council and its partners have focused on a clear plan for accessible, integrated and affordable public transport through the local transport plan. There has been investment in Public Transport and highways over the past six years by the Council and Warrington Borough Transport which has delivered long-term improvements.

These six partnerships have between them engaged in a wide range of activity to respond to the impact that climate change is having on their locality. They have achieved consensus around what needs to be done and secured “collaborative” leadership from the public, private and community sectors and from their local residents.

The Virtual School is modelled on a mainstream school with a head, primary and secondary teachers, focusing on attendance and attainment. It provides a personalised education service in which academic, social and emotional needs of each individual pupil are identified, targets set, and improvement strategies agreed and implemented.