Wigan Council's Deal in the spotlight

The Deal Conference was hosted by Wigan Council and took place at The Edge conference centre.

The event was sold out with representatives coming to Wigan from as far afield as Angus in Scotland, Pembrokeshire in Wales to Surrey in the South East.

The Deal is Wigan Council’s strategy to work with residents to address the challenges of austerity, reform services and invest in communities.

The Deal has revolutionised the way Wigan Council works by reinventing its relationship with citizens, reducing demand and empowering communities and staff to play their part in making real change happen.

It has received national attention in the field of local government and the council has had 40 councils come to visit to find out more already this year.

Donna Hall, Wigan Council chief executive, said: “We recognised there was an on-going interest in The Deal from councils from around the country.

“The conference was the ideal way to share our learning and to work with colleagues from other councils on how they can address the challenges we all face with significantly reduced budgets.

“The feedback we have had from delegates has been incredible and there is national recognition that the way councils are working with residents is changing for the better.”

The conference kicked-off with a performance by Wigan Warblers and also heard inspirational speeches from three female teenagers from Leigh’s Reclaim project – both Deal funded projects.

Key note speakers included Donna Hall, Wigan Council leader Coun David Molyneux, Dr Durka Dougall from the King’s Fund and Pam Warhurst from Incredible Edible.