Local councils: driving innovation in anchor work

Across the UK, local councils are showing how anchor approaches can tackle inequality and strengthen local economies. They are not only using their own roles and resources to create fairer, healthier places, but also convening and leading wider partnerships to reimagine how local systems can work together for inclusive growth.

In doing so, councils are demonstrating the transformative impact this way of working can have - which in turn is shaping national policy contexts and driving anchor work up the agenda for everyone. Drawing on 18 months of HALN’s work with local councils, this blog highlights how they are driving innovation in anchor work and the virtuous loop this is having for anchor work everywhere. 

Councils as anchors 

Councils are uniquely placed to drive innovation in anchor work. Like other major institutions, they are large employers with significant spending power and extensive estates and assets. But they also sit at the heart of their local places - connected to communities and local businesses, accountable to residents, and responsible for shaping economic, social, and environmental outcomes.

In this blog, we showcase some of the innovative ways councils are leading across key anchor pillars - from workforce wellbeing and community wealth building, to partnership convening and long-term system leadership.

Work and health - leading by example

With the UK government putting “access to good work” at the heart of its mission to boost growth and improve population health, councils are showing what’s possible through their own employment practices. 

In Camden, for example, the Council has been working with the social enterprise Timewise to spread the benefits of more flexible working to staff in jobs traditionally seen as “hard to flex” - such as frontline and site-based roles. And by demonstrating what’s possible within its own workforce, the Council has developed the confidence to use the wider levers it has at its disposal to influence and promote flexible work more widely in the borough.  

This has resulted in a number of initiatives to widen access to flexible work across the borough, including: building flexible work expectations into their procurement processes; promoting flexible working through their business support services and in their Inclusive Business Network; and training work coaches to support job seekers to understand their rights to flexible work and to request them in their conversations with employers.

Councils are also leading the way on action on mental health. Mentally Healthier Councils Networks have launched across the country, bringing together local government staff to champion mental health in their communities.

Community Wealth Building - the new normal

Just over a decade on from the pioneering Preston Model - where Preston City Council and local partners redirected millions of pounds of spending back into the local economy - Community Wealth Building (CWB) has moved from the margins to the mainstream, with councils leading the way.

What’s more, the work of pioneering councils, such as North Ayrshire in Scotland, is creating a virtuous loop with national policy. In Scotland the world’s first Community Wealth Building bill is going through the Scottish Parliament with the aim of ensuring that “local authorities and other parts of the public sector implement community wealth building across Scotland”. 

But local councils are not waiting around for legislation. Research from the Improvement Service (IS) in March this year found that: 

“Over half of Scotland’s councils have chosen to incorporate CWB into existing or emerging strategies rather than waiting for forthcoming legislation to dictate the form of their approach. Four councils have already published standalone CWB strategies, while two more have drafts in development.”

This local leadership is creating a feedback loop - where pioneering practice drives national policy, which in turn strengthens local action.

Convening anchor partnerships

Councils are also playing a vital role as convenors - bringing together local anchor organisations to take joint action on health and inequalities.

Anchor networks, often convened and coordinated by councils, are emerging across the UK.  Returning to The Improvement Service’s research, for example, shows that “more than half of Scotland’s local authorities have established anchor groups”. This convening power of councils is drawing in partners from both the public sector and the private sector. 

Through this convening role, councils are helping to align the collective resources of local systems - ensuring that public investment, employment, and procurement all contribute to shared outcomes for health and wealth.

In it for the long run 

With pressures mounting on public services, councils recognise that anchor approaches to creating local health and wealth are only going to become more important, and that investing in anchor work now is only the start of a long term mission. 

In Northumberland, for example, the County Council has convened local anchor institutions to form the Northumberland County Partnership (NCP) - a planned twenty-year collaboration to create generational change. The partnership has commissioned the Institute of Health Equity to support it to identify and deliver against three priority areas: housing, early years, and good-quality work.

This kind of system-wide, long-term collaboration exemplifies the maturity of anchor thinking now emerging in local government.

What’s next? 

This movement shows no sign of slowing. The Co-Operatives Councils Innovation Network - a Special Interest Group registered with the LGA that supports councils to apply co-operative values and principles to local government practice - is now the fastest-growing cross-party network in local government. 

As devolution reshapes local authority powers in England, and as new Strategic Authorities take on responsibilities for promoting health and tackling inequalities, it is vital that the best of existing anchor practice informs the next wave of reform.

Councils have already proven that anchor approaches can deliver real social and economic value. The challenge - and opportunity - ahead is to build on that foundation, ensuring anchor principles sit at the heart of how local government leads change for healthier, fairer places.

Get involved

Through HALN’s work with local councils, we’ve seen how peer learning and shared experimentation are accelerating this movement - showing that anchor innovation is as much about relationships as resources.

At HALN, we are committed to supporting networking and knowledge sharing between local authorities. If your council is working on anchor initiatives and would like to share learning, get in touch with us.

We are also planning a dedicated Learning Set for individuals working within Strategic Authorities in Spring 2026. If you are interested in joining, you can register your interest here.