Blaby District Council has been selected as a shortlisted finalist in the Public/Public Partnership category in the 2018 LGC Awards for the Lightbulb project.

The awards, run by Local Government Chronicle (LGC), are the biggest and most prestigious awards ceremony for the local government sector.

The winners will be announced in a ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House venue on 21 March 2018.

The service is spearheaded and hosted by Blaby District Council, which first piloted the scheme back in 2015. The programme includes all seven Leicestershire district councils, Leicestershire County Council, and all three Leicestershire CCG’s, as well as the Leicestershire Partnership Trust.

Lightbulb has now been fully rolled out supports vulnerable people to ensure they can live in their homes as safely as possible.

The project has already been a success, with analysis on 357 patients experiencing improved care and an 84% reduction in NHS costs, worth up to £550,000 in savings over a one-year period.

As a result of Lightbulb’s work so far, a reduction of just one fall for every 17 residents saves the local health and care economy £21,000 per year.

89% of service users have reported and improvement in their physical and mental health under the new scheme.

Back in September, Lightbulb was named ‘Best Collaborative Working Initiative’ by the Association for Public Service Excellence and Commended at the Home Improvement Agency Awards.

Nearly 100 organisations have been shortlisted as finalists in the coveted awards, which recognise the best of local government innovation and service delivery.

The high quality of this year’s entries demonstrates local government’s enthusiasm to innovate in an era in which councils’ budgets have been cut.

The awards seek to identify and recognise local government’s greatest innovators, whose achievements are often under reported.

With budgets at the forefront of priorities, it is even more important this year to shine a spotlight on the achievements of those councils whose pioneering best practice can inspire other councils to improve services.

LGC editor Nick Golding said:

“To be shortlisted for an LGC Award shows a council service is among the country’s most innovative, and doing the most to support the needs of local residents as councils face continuing budget cuts.

“We should salute the council officers and councillors doing the most to ensure our vital public services thrive in the era of austerity.”

Winners will be announced on 21 March 2018 at Grosvenor House on London’s Park Lane which will be attended by 1,100 people from local government and its partner organisations.

The full list of finalists can be found at awards.lgcplus.com.