Local authorities are under more pressure than ever, with decreasing resources and increasing demand for services that can act as a barrier to the take-up of innovative ideas. In order to combat this, the Local Government Association (LGA) has joint-funded several behavioural insights projects within councils – reducing the financial risk to the councils and encouraging innovation.

Behavioural insights continue to be applied to increasingly complex issues in local government. The LGA is building an evidence base of successful uses of behavioural insights, which local authorities can use to improve their services.

About the LGA's Behavioural Insights Programme

To support innovation in local government, the LGA has delivered seven previous phases of its Behavioural Insights programme. These have increased its understanding of how behavioural science can be used to improve outcomes for local government services and reduce demand across the public sector by encouraging residents to take up preventative services.

Since 2015, the LGA has supported councils to deliver behavioural insights projects across a variety of service areas including (but not limited to) climate, environment, and waste services, children’s social services, adult social care, and public health. The results have provided an evidence base of effective behavioural insights interventions to reduce demand for local public services, encourage an early intervention approach, and improve outcomes for local residents.

The programme now utilises a consortium approach that encourages neighbouring local authorities to:

• work together to deliver a joint project
• scale up the impact of the project through low-cost interventions.