Affordable Warmth Scheme
- May 2025
We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.
The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ...
Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.
Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.
Chorley Council and South Ribble Borough Council have demonstrated the huge impact district councils can have when they extend their core functions to support health and social care. Through their innovative approach, they have developed social prescribing functions embedded within early intervention and community support services, enhancing their effectiveness. The councils’ local presence and networks enable them to provide comprehensive and place based support. The service has significantly improved residents’ wellbeing and demonstrated substantial cost savings for the health system. This innovative approach highlights the crucial role of district councils in addressing health and social care challenges.
Chorley Council and South Ribble Borough Council are two sovereign district authorities in Lancashire with populations of circa 100,000 each. The two Councils work together and share a number of services including leadership but remain separate local authorities. Whilst the Communities functions and the social prescribing services that sit within them are sovereign, the teams work collaboratively to share knowledge and experience.
The social prescribing services were developed against a backdrop of unsustainable pressures across all public services. The wider context is a system that is fragmented and is increasingly based on rationing to manage demand, waiting for issues to escalate and get worse.
Polly Patel
Transformation & Policy Lead
Chorley Borough Council