A joint project between the Directorate of Public Health and Social Care and the East Midlands Development Centre (NHS East Midlands), supported by the East Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Partnership, has successfully identified and addressed local issues in dementia care.

The East Midlands Joint Improvement Partnership Safeguarding and Dignity Board was commissioned to undertake a review of Adult Protection Serious Case Reviews (SCRs) in the region. The project was hosted by Leicestershire County Council and funded by the East Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Partnership.

The project started in July 2010 and five current SCRs in the East Midlands were examined in order to develop the new process. The new four stage process will provide more options in safeguarding adults and should be more cost effective, less time consuming and ensure learning is disseminated, and acted upon more quickly.

A project completed through an East Midlands Property Alliance (empa) framework; the Red Lion Quarter will be a vibrant building with many and varied uses. The key theme that it is a local project, managed by local people for the benefit of the local economy.

The ground floor provides 3 retail units, a food court, a training kitchen and a restaurant. It is intended that the retail space and food court will be taken by local producers and the products used in the restaurant.

North Kesteven District Council's waste collection service provides good value for money. The service performs well; the council's recycling rate is in the top ten nationally and the amount of waste sent to landfill is very low, yet the cost of the service per household is also very low. This case study explores what drives this value for money position, with a focus on particular initiatives or ways of working that have enabled the service to improve performance and keep costs down.

North Kesteven is one of the best performing councils in the country for recycling a large proportion of their waste and minimising overall levels of waste produced by households. The authority has maintained a high level of performance over several years, and has been able to build on their performance year-on-year, whilst also ensuring that the service is as efficient as possible.

The council manages to achieve high performance ratings at a low cost per household by:
• Matching operations to the needs of local area, for example the three wheeled bin system for residual, garden and recycling waste, implementing alternate weekly collections, ensuring flexibility with crew sizes and reducing garden waste rounds in winter.

• Developing a culture of continuous improvement, for example increasing the range of recyclable materials collected, conducting a route optimisation review and developing staff engagement activities.

• Driving out costs, for example targeting education/prevention resources to the areas of greatest need, moving customer contact into the customer services function, maximising the value from contracts and reducing staff costs during off-peak periods to reduce agency spend.