About the project
As partners across West Yorkshire work together to develop neighbourhood health, the Keep it Local approach shows what we can achieve when services are designed around communities and delivered through strong local partnerships.
Neighbourhood health is about bringing health, care, community and voluntary sector organisations together around people and places. It focuses on preventing ill health, supporting people earlier and creating joined-up care closer to home. This way of working is not new in West Yorkshire. Many organisations have been working at neighbourhood level for years, building trusted relationships and connecting people with the support they need. Keep it Local is one example of how this approach is already making a difference.
A national first for West Yorkshire
In March 2024, West Yorkshire became the first Integrated Care Board in England to adopt Locality's Keep it Local approach. With all five local authorities already signed up, it also became the country's first Keep it Local Integrated Care System. The approach commits health and care organisations to working more closely with local voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations, recognising their vital role in preventing ill health, reducing inequalities and supporting communities.
In March 2026, Locality published How West Yorkshire became the first Keep it Local Integrated Care System – a report highlighting West Yorkshire's experience and sharing learning with health systems across the country. The report sits alongside Locality’s Keep it Local Health Commissioning Guide shaped by West Yorkshire's work.
Martin Pursey, Director of Partner Relationship Management, said:
“Neighbourhood health is about building on the strengths that already exist in our communities. Keep it Local has given us a practical framework for doing that, helping us work more closely with local organisations that know their communities best.”
Removing barriers and valuing community expertise
Martin added:
“As part of this work, our Power of Communities programme and Contracting and Procurement teams led a co-produced programme of reform alongside VCSE alliances, Locality and sector partners. Together we identified barriers that can prevent smaller community organisations from accessing opportunities and developed new approaches to make commissioning simpler, fairer and more inclusive.”
One of the biggest changes has been the development of a new evaluation framework that recognises the social value community organisations bring through trusted relationships, local knowledge, community connections and contribution to prevention. Rather than treating social value as an additional benefit, the framework embeds it throughout decision-making on quality, value, collaboration and reducing health inequalities.
Martin said:
“We know local VCSE organisations are often closest to the communities we most need to involve. They bring trusted relationships, insight and expertise that are essential to improving health outcomes and tackling inequalities.”
Kim Shutler, Joint Senior Responsible Officer for Neighbourhood Health, added:
“It is brilliant that West Yorkshire has been leading the way with this innovative approach. It has been incredibly powerful bringing together finance, procurement and contracting colleagues with VCSE colleagues. A lot of this is about understanding different pressures and challenges and taking a proactive approach to making things easier for all sides. This work sets strong foundations for how we will work together to deliver neighbourhood health.”
What’s next - supporting the shift to neighbourhood health
The Keep it Local approach aligns closely with the ambitions of neighbourhood health. Both focus on prevention, stronger community partnerships and supporting people in the places where they live. Since becoming a Keep it Local system over two years ago, the work has strengthened relationships between health, care and community partners, improved understanding of investment in the VCSE sector and helped embed community-led approaches across the system. The programme has also received national recognition, including Locality's 2024 Keep it Local Award and the Sustainable Procurement Award 2026.
Martin said:
“The future of health and care will be built around neighbourhoods. Keep it Local shows how we can move from working in organisational isolation to working together around people, communities and places.”
As we continue to develop neighbourhood health, the lessons from Keep it Local will help shape how we work together to deliver more personalised, preventative and community-based support for local people.