Skip to main content

Latest news & events

PRESS RELEASE - ADEPT recognises success at annual awards

 For immediate issue 09 May 2017

The Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning & Transport (ADEPT) held an evening of celebration at the Annual Dinner and President’s Awards on May 3 2018.

The evening, held at One Whitehall Place recognised success across three categories: Places that work for People; Digital Innovation & Technology; and Improving the Environment, Promoting Health.

President of ADEPT, Simon Neilson, presented the awards to recognise members’ outstanding achievements from the year.

Simon Neilson said: “The ADEPT President’s Awards are a chance to celebrate achievements and to recognise the wide range of projects that our members undertake.

“This year we received more entries than ever before, and of an excellent quality. I think it's really important for us to reflect on the successful programmes that Local Authorities and their partners deliver year after year, and to help share best practice. The awards are a key means for us to do this.”

The Places that Work for People category, sponsored by WSP recognises improvements that make a difference to local residents’ quality of life.

Nottinghamshire County Council, in partnership with D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, were crowned winners for their successful two-year project which aimed to reduce the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET).

Crucially, the project helped more than 1,000 15-19 year-olds develop enterprise and employability skills, through employment mentoring projects, one-to-one coaching and the development of an employability passport. To date more than 111 education institutions have sought over £1.1m in funding.

Nicola McCoy-Brown, Growth and Economic Development Manager at Nottinghamshire County Council said: “The Council and its partners want young people to be inspired by the world of work, get good qualifications and have more opportunities to get ready to start their working life and impress local employers.

“The difference with this pioneering scheme is that it captures young people before they become NEET. In essence we’re reaching out to young people to give them a better chance of transitioning from education to work, with the aim of reducing the proportion who become unemployed in adult life.”

Walsall Council was highly commended for its Goscote Greenacres Community Gardens project, which supports adults with disabilities in the local community. 

The award for Digital Innovation & Technology, sponsored by Ringway, was given to Suffolk County Council for their ‘Internet of Things Technologies’ in partnership with Telensa and BT. The collaborative project used real-time traffic data to control street lighting intensity at night, delivering energy savings of 30 per cent. EU funding has now been obtained to roll out the scheme across Ipswich.

Mark Stevens, Suffolk Highways’ Assistant Director Operational Highways, said: “We are thrilled to have been recognised during such a prestigious event and for an innovation that we at Suffolk Highways are very proud of as a business.   “Our team has worked tirelessly to push the boundaries in terms of the technology used here and we very much welcome ADEPT’s praise through this award.”

Thurrock Council was highly, commended for the pothole-spotter trial, being run in partnership with Wiltshire Council, City of York Council, Department for Transport (DfT), SOENECS and Gaist. The DfT-funded project uses high-definition cameras on-board refuse collection vehicles, buses and highways vans to capture detailed imagery and model road deterioration and prevent potholes.

Hertfordshire County Council was successful in the Improving the Environment, Promoting Health category for their Hertfordshire Fly Tipping Group project. The multi-task project saw a reduction of over 2,000 reported incidents through delivery of training, installation of specialist cameras and highly successful social media campaigns. The project was also recognised as ‘Best Partnership’ at the 2018 Keep Britain Tidy Awards.

Duncan Jones, Chair of the Hertfordshire Fly Tipping Group and Hertfordshire Waste Partnership Development Manager, said: “It was fantastic to receive this award as recognition of the hard work of all the partners in the Hertfordshire Fly Tipping Group but also as an endorsement of the effectiveness of the campaign and the difference it has made in the county.

“The campaign the group developed has already been shared with colleagues in other counties and I hope winning this award will prompt others to get in touch as we are very willing to share our material and experiences.”

Joint runner up in the Improving the Environment, Promoting Health category was North Yorkshire County Council for its ‘Discoveries on your Doorstep’ trails, which addressed inactivity, obesity and mental health by encouraging locals to public rights of way as a community health asset.

Kent County Council was also highly commended for its ‘Low Carbon across the South East’ project which aimed to improve the competitiveness in the industry whilst protecting the environment and encouraging low carbon solutions.

ADEPT is the voice of local authority county, unitary and metropolitan Strategic Place Directors across England with responsibility for the key place based services, including transport, environment, planning, economic development, housing and waste.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

A list of all the winners and highly commended projects can be found here and summary of all this year's entries is here. For more information and further case studies, please contact Julie Everett at Coast Communications on 01579 352600 or 07866002635 or email [email protected]

About ADEPT The Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning & Transport (ADEPT) represents local authority county, unitary and metropolitan Directors. Operating at the strategic tier of local government, members are responsible for delivering public services that primarily relate to the physical environment and the economy, but which have a significant impact on all aspects of the nation’s well-being. ADEPT represents members' interests by proactively engaging central Government on emerging policy & issues, promoting initiatives aimed at influencing Government policy and through the development of best practices and responding to European and UK Government initiatives and consultations.

Media enquiries: please contact Coast Communications 01579 352600 | VAT number: 337 0556 05 | Website by Cosmic