The Beacon Scheme identifies excellence and innovation in local government. It also encourages councils to share good practice and learn from each other. Beacon status is granted to those authorities who can demonstrate a clear vision, excellent services and a willingness to innovate within a theme. Awards are made by government ministers based on recommendations made by an independent advisory panel. Birmingham has now achieved Beacon Status in four areas: Increasing Voluntary and Community Sector Service Delivery Promoting Sustainable Tourism Street and Highways Works Town Centre Regeneration Being a Beacon Council is not only an accolade for excellence and innovative ways of working, but also encouragement to share knowledge and experiences with others, hopefully inspiring them to improve. Over the next 12 months the council will be undertaking a dissemination programme to share its excellent practices with other authorities, alongside the other Beacon award-winner in this theme, London Borough of Croydon.

Further Information To find out more about the Beacon Scheme, visit the Beacon Scheme pages on the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) website (www.beacons.idea.gov.uk). This government agency supports the scheme on behalf of Communities and Local Government (CLG).