Now in their 14th year, the Guardian Public Service Awards, supported by EY, aim to showcase the improvements and innovation underway across UK public services and recognise brilliant ideas, techniques and measurable impact.
This year the Guardian’s Society networks, which serve communities of dedicated staff working in housing, health, social care, the voluntary sector,criminal justice and central and local government, and SocietyGuardian, have set out once again to recognise and reward excellence across public services.
We are looking to showcase the most innovative approaches in public services and we want your entries.
For every entry to the awards, our judges will be looking for:
- How the project or initiative meets the specific criteria of the category entered
- Evidence of measurable, sustainable change as a result of the project
- How the project goes above and beyond standard practice
- The challenges the project had to overcome
- How many people worked on the project or team in the qualifying period (10 July 2016 - 14 July 2017)
- Details of the level of funding the specific project or team received in the qualifying period (10 July 2016 - 14 July 2017)
This year’s categories, each with their own specific criteria, are:
Care - sponsored by OnCare
Your care project or team do not have to be directly in the public sector, but you must demonstrate how they have contributed to better public care services, by meeting one or more of these criteria:
- How does your project put care of patients, residents or client front and centre?
- How does it highlight the very best practice in social work?
- What positive, tangible impact has your project had on the quality of care or social work delivered by your organisation?
Digital and technology - sponsored by iMPOWER
Your digital project can be frontline or back office. It does not have to be in the public sector itself, but should demonstrate how it has contributed to better public services, by meeting one or more of these criteria:
- How has your digital project improved a service for users that could not have been done any other way?
- How has it enabled better team working in an innovative way?
- How has it delivered tangible, quantifiable efficiencies that could not have been achieved any other way?
Finance – sponsored by SmartSearch from Jobsgopublic
Your finance project does not have to be in the public sector itself, but should demonstrate how it has contributed to better public finances, by meeting one or more of these criteria:
- How has your finance project minimised public service costs?
- How has your finance project transformed processes to provide a significant benefit to public services?
- How has your finance project provided sustainable innovation that could provide inspiration for other public services?
Health and wellbeing - sponsored by the Local Government Association
In this category, we’re looking for public service projects and teams that have significantly and demonstrably improved the physical or mental health and wellbeing of citizens, residents, customers or their own staff. Projects must meet one or more of the following criteria:
- How has this project improved the health and wellbeing of the target audience in innovative ways?
- If this is a project that has improved staff wellbeing, please tell the judges how it has gone over and above any organisation’s normal care of duty for its employees
- How many people have been affected for the better as a result of the project?
- How does this project keep track of health or wellbeing improvements of those involved and ensure it can be sustained in future?
Housing - sponsored by Norse Commercial Services
Your project can be a social or supported housing project, but can also be any innovative project or team working to support people’s needs in this sector. It should meet one or more of the following criteria:
- How does your housing project support residents or homeless people in new ways?
- What’s special and innovative about your housing project that could provide inspiration for others in the sector?
Learning and development - sponsored by Skills for Care
To be shortlisted for this award, public service training and career development projects must meet all the following criteria:
- How has this project delivered an outstanding and innovative service? It could be a new partnership, collaborative working or a mentoring scheme, but it must be new and demonstrably above and beyond everyday expectations
- How does the project or team measure success? We want to know the quantitative criteria being used.
Recruitment & HR - sponsored by the PPMA
To be shortlisted for this award, public service recruitment or HR teams must meet all the following criteria:
- How has this public service recruitment or HR team sought out, motivated and promoted star performers, at all levels in the organisation?
- How has this project or team made a real and sustainable impact on recruitment or HR that could inspire other public services?
- What challenges have this team had to overcome to deliver an outstanding service?
*NEW* Leadership excellence - sponsored by Veredus
We’re looking for public service leaders working in any sector who meet one or more of the following criteria:
- How has this person demonstrated leadership of a public service in ways that have gone above and beyond their job spec?
- How have they led or encouraged colleagues to demonstrate outstanding leadership|?
- What challenges has this person had to overcome as a leader of a public service that makes them a worth winner?
Public servant of the year
We’re looking for the very best from across public services. Our nominees will need to meet all the following criteria:
- How does this person embody the very spirit and ethos of public service?
- In what ways have they gone the extra mile for service users and made a real difference to outcomes?
- What challenges have they had to overcome in their public service role?
- Tell us how this public servant has made a real difference and why they should receive an award for outstanding work in public service.
Overall Winner
This category celebrates the best of the individual category winners deemed by the judges to be the strongest of this year’s entries.
This team will have demonstrated an exceptional level of application, innovation and achievement, and will have delivered substantial improvement in a public service that has made a real difference to people’s lives.
