Stockport Council has been shortlisted for two national awards for public service. 

The council's warm spaces programme, which ran from November 2022 to March 2023, has been shortlisted for this year's Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) Awards, whilst its digital practices have been shortlisted for Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Workforce Awards. 

The warm spaces programme saw at least one warm space open in every ward of the borough, allowing residents struggling with the rising cost of energy and wider cost-of-living crisis to spend time in a comfortable environment for free. 

Cllr Frankie Singleton, cabinet member for culture, communities and sport, described the initiative as 'truly pioneering'. This programme has been nominated in the 'best community and neighbourhood initiative' category. 

Cllr Singleton said of this nomination: "To have been recognised in this way is a fantastic achievement for a scheme that we saw first-hand make a real difference to our residents across the borough."

Meanwhile, the council has also been shortlisted in the 'best innovation in smart working' category at the LGC awards, to celebrate digital innovation. 

In a statement, Stockport Council said: "Our submission detailed how we have adopted digital practices to improve efficiency, wellbeing and environmental impact with regard to our colleagues following the Covid-19 pandemic."

Cllr Jilly Julian, cabinet member for finance and resources at Stockport Council, commented: "I'm so proud of all the colleagues who worked on these projects and whose dedication means we are shortlisted. The diversity between the two awards we have been shortlisted for shows the breadth of talent we have across the council, and the innovative work that is going on across services."

The winner will be announced in September.

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