Nottingham City Council's ambitions for improving outcomes for children and young people in care are clear. An impressive local apprenticeship scheme has seen them achieve this while supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the local community.

Awarding it the Children's Services prize at The MJ Local Government Achievement Awards 2015, judges said Nottingham's apprenticeship scheme for children leaving care ‘ticked all the boxes with regards to helping young people as well as the community and economy'. They added that work taking place in the Midlands authority ‘showed ambition and inventiveness'.