• Text Size
  • Contrast

Principles met

  • Co-production

    We will develop systems that enable citizens to be equal partners in designing and commissioning public services and in determining the use of public resources.

  • Innovation

    We will embrace innovation in how we work with local communities to drive positive change.

  • Learning

    We will capture and ‘expand’ the experience and learning from individual projects and approaches in order to encourage broader application of co-operative principles within individual member Councils and across the Network.

  • Maximising social value

    We will support the development of a framework and criteria for social value, giving substance to the concept and supporting Councils with the tools to ensure better local social and economic outcomes.

  • New models of meeting priority needs

    In exploring new ways of meeting the priority needs of our communities we will encourage models, such as co-operatives and mutuals, which give greater influence and voice to staff and users. in designing and commissioning public services and in determining the use of public resources.

Hackney’s  Anti-racism plan sets out four objectives. One of these is to embed anti-racist practices into decision-making and service design. Traditionally, local government’s response to racial inequality is to focus on access or a deficit-based approach, which centres the marginalised communities as the problem that needs to be fixed. We are starting to look at where systemic inequity shows up in our own processes, contributing to the disproportionate outcomes we see in marginalised communities. This is challenging the lens through which we are making decisions. 

Systemic racism doesn’t just impact our communities, but those organisations who are of those communities.

This builds on work started by City and Hackney Health and Hackney Council for Voluntary Services (CVS) to pilot a process through their MATCH programme to embed anti-racist commissioning principles to address a chosen health inequality faced by communities in city and Hackney. The principles are:

  1. Building trusted relationships
  2. Trust community groups to identify needs
  3. Design simple flexible, and transparent application and decision making processes
  4. Support small organisations with core funding and resources
  5. Using trauma informed approaches 

In addition to incorporating these principles we wanted to identify where systemic racism is showing up in the commissioning cycle that means that Black and Global majority organisations are less likely to secure funding/contracts We recognised that if we are trying to address disproportionate outcomes in communities, when we are funding we need to understand that:

  • People’s experiences are different and the context in which people experience things will be different
  • The evidence needs to be based on local need and local communities
  • Organisations and communities know what is needed, how this can be provided and what outcomes are relevant, including ones that allow for aspiration and joy

For further information contact:

Back to Case Studies