Over the next few years local government faces unprecedented pressures to cut costs, deliver quality services and maintain public confidence. To do this the sector will have to innovate to find better ways of delivering services and orchestrating partnerships – while also mitigating the impact of the recession on citizens and businesses. Experience shows that the most effective innovation is driven by necessity and spurred by financial imperatives.

The Recovery Network brings together a group of leading local authorities to work on effective responses to the recession by sharing thinking and experience.

We are convinced that the depth of the recession will require much more imaginative responses both to its direct effects – creating work, using empty buildings, keeping small firms afloat – and its indirect effects, whether on mental health or public finances.

The Recovery Network is helping local authorities and their partners to find ways to speed up and support recovery in their local areas, accessing data on future trends and needs, scanning for promising solutions and devloping new service models to tackle their priority challenges.

This work is drawing on a list of innovation methods for local government that the Young Foundation has developed.

On Friday 5 March we held our first seminar with Recovery Network partners. At this seminar Nicola Bacon, Local projects director, and Geoff Mulgan,  Director,  presented Young Foundation thinking on innovation and value in the public sector, which can be viewed here. This was followed by a presentation from Mandeep Hothi, Senior Associate, on the Young Foundation's Local 2.0 project and the possibilities of social media.  This can be viewed here.