Vying for a place in the LGA’s officer challenge final.
Back in January, we announced that the LGA-run Local Government Challenge was back.
We had again recruited 10 ambitious council officers to work in teams to face a series of tough, real-life local government challenges designed to develop their leadership skills – all while providing valuable fresh perspectives to host local councils.
As of late April, our 10 contestants were partway through the competition.
With the prestigious £10,000 Bruce-Lockhart Scholarship up for grabs for the winner, to fund a project of their own design, the contestants are looking determined as they compete to make it to the final.
Local Government Challenge 2023 began in February, in the heart of the South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership – the first partnership to host a challenge.
Held at Boston Borough Council, the contestants were tasked with developing an action plan for the partnership to lead the way on flood resilience in the sub-region, and maximise the benefit for communities and businesses across all coastal economies.
Clearly enthused by such a complex and technical challenge, both teams offered impressive responses.
Team Thrive’s idea focused on creating one local voice to lobby at national level and build local skills through a centre of excellence.
Team Catalyst’s proposal centred on skills and innovation, and diversifying the economy through green tourism.
Team Thrive edged it, to become the winners of the first challenge of 2023.
For challenge two, the contestants travelled to Cheltenham Borough Council, where they were given a unique task to develop a plan that would ensure all of Cheltenham’s communities prosper from the town’s Golden Valley Development – a pioneering garden community integrating hi-tech business, residential and leisure uses.
Team Catalyst presented a three-year action plan focused on how Cheltenham could meaningfully engage with residents, and considered how the council can reduce some of the barriers to people getting access to technology and obtaining the skills they need to work on the new development.
Team Thrive’s proposal centred on ‘The GVD Way’, a formula for businesses to follow so that they, and the borough, succeed. This involved ‘The GVD Pledge’, a commitment for businesses to build a pipeline of local talent, use buying power to support local businesses, and become proud members of the community, with the ability to create positive difference.
The judges’ deliberation again went down to the wire as they pored over the teams’ complex and ambitious suggestions. Gareth Edmundson, Chief Executive of Cheltenham Borough Council, announced the eventual victor: Team Catalyst!
More recently, the contestants have completed their third challenge, at Cherwell District Council, where they were asked to design a future model for waste services that factors in the significant changes on the horizon for waste services across the country.
Thrive’s suggestion of lobbying government to pilot a digital approach to the deposit return scheme and Catalyst’s idea of a new Bicester Eco Station both went down well. Council Leader Cllr Barry Wood announced that Team Thrive were the winners after another tough decision.
At the end of the fifth challenge, the contestants will be whittled down to four finalists, who will be at the LGA’s annual conference in Bournemouth (4-6 July), pitching their proposals to delegates and a panel of judges before the winner is announced.