Biographies from the 10 contestants taking part in the 2013 LG Challenge.
I am a multi-award winning organisation and people developer, working at a senior level within Cheshire East Council's Organisational Development team. I currently lead on employee engagement, leadership development, performance development, and corporate training and people development at all levels for the council. I also work sub-regionally and play a key role in the Cheshire and Warrington Collaborative Leadership programme for the public sector.
I am a recognised figure in apprenticeships after designing and delivering the hugely successful A-team Apprenticeship scheme – a leading apprenticeship scheme and model of best practice in the UK. I also manage graduate development for the council.
My career began in human resources and I holds a Masters Degree in Human Resource Management, and a BSc degree (Hons). I am a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. I am also busy in the Cheshire community as Vice-Chair of a leading mental health charity, a School Governor and I sit on several management boards including a community radio station.
The Local Government Challenge 2013 was an ideal competition to challenge myself in a different way while also benefiting from the experience of working with colleagues from different councils, and getting to grips with some of the challenges being faced across our sector.
I firmly believe that Local Government now and in the future has a crucial role in shaping communities and creating the conditions for people to truly thrive, and this competition, with the series of different challenges, will allow us to show the innovative difference we are capable of making with the resources and circumstances we are presented with.
I'm looking forward to the first challenge. Let's get started!
I joined Staffordshire County Council in 2010 as a Policy Advisor in the ‘People' Policy and Performance team in Strategy and Transformation.
I was previously a parliamentary researcher for Paul Farrelly MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme. I first entered local government in 2003 as a policy advisor to Alan Wenham, the former Chief Executive of Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council.
I was born in the railway town of Crewe in 1980, and attended Shavington High School. In 2002, I gained a first class honours degree in Business Studies, before graduating with a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Birmingham.
In 2005, aged 25, I hit the headlines when I became one of the youngest people in the UK to be appointed a Magistrate. Since 2008, I have served on Cheshire Police Authority as an Independent Member of the Audit Committee.
The public service reform agenda being outlined by the Government is highly ambitious and will demand wholesale reform in how public services are organised.
Responding to this agenda requires public service leaders with a truly entrepreneurial mindset.
I see the Local Government Challenge as a fantastic opportunity to work with other future leaders to develop a new generation of public service entrepreneurs, who will tear up the ‘local government handbook'.
I offer new and exciting leadership for these changing times, and aspire to be part of this new group of reformers.
It's time to look to the future, not the past.
I'm Francine Oddy and I manage the Leader and Cabinet Office at the London Borough of Haringey. My role involves managing a team that provides strategic support to Cabinet members in their portfolio areas, and we have also recently started managing corporate projects for the council.
I recently managed a Governance Review for the council, which looked at how governance arrangements could be improved and how public engagement in local democracy could be increased. At the moment I'm working on the council's One Borough, One Future Fund; a £1.5 million scheme to tackle social inequality in the borough, nurture innovation, and redesign public service delivery. It's a really ambitious project that I'm passionate about, and I look forward to seeing the ideas that were put forward affecting large scale social change in our borough.
I think that local government is in a really unique position to make a significant impact on people's lives, but the challenge is how we can remain agile enough to continue delivering the best possible outcomes for communities with ever changing needs. Service improvement and transformation really interests me, and I think the Local Government Challenge is a great opportunity to put this into practice in real-life situations across the country. I'm looking forward to getting out and meeting the communities, and working with a dynamic group on the challenges ahead.
I am relatively new to local government, having recently only begun my fourth year. I entered through the National Graduate Development Programme – which provided a really good basis for me to start my career within local government and learn about what councils do. On finishing the programme, I became part of a new team in Worcester City Council called the Performance, Improvement and Efficiency team, as a Policy and Performance officer. The role involves supporting services and the organisation to deliver against its vision of making Worcester ‘a first rank cathedral and university city' through policy development, performance management and consultation/engagement. The short year I have been with Worcester has seen me lead on equalities, risk management, policy development, localism, and even organising a royal visit!
At this challenging time for local government it would be quite easy to be complacent and stick to what you know. I entered the Local Government Challenge because I am keen to develop, improve and challenge myself, and the competition offers a real opportunity to do this as well as share experiences and learn from other authorities. The challenge is a chance to consider the various challenges facing local government and think creatively about the solutions put in place to manage them – and is an experience I am greatly looking forward to.
I am a Project Support Officer for Somerset Centre for Integrated Learning (SCIL), which is part of Somerset County Council.
Working alongside senior managers I manage and coordinate an Administration team with a range of projects relating to schools and academies. The team are responsible for a variety of training programmes including foundation, teacher training, Post-Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) and bespoke training requests from schools.
I am responsible for the development of the visual learning environment (VLE), website and marketing plan. Part of my role is to ensure we recruit to maximum numbers and the programmes are financially sustainable and viable. I take a lead within SCIL for the innovative development of the use of ICT and ensuring we maximise its potential.
I work with senior management, colleagues, students, trainees and tutors to ensure the smooth running of the programme.
I applied for the Local Government Challenge as I see it as an excellent opportunity to share good practice within and across local government authorities.
I am dedicated to my work and have progressed within local government; undertaking an apprenticeship, NVQ 2 and 3, Higher National Certificate (Level 4), Institute of Leadership and Management (Level 4) and an Open University (OU) Open Degree.
I am young and ambitious and as the Local Government Challenge was looking for applications from officers with the drive to become a top local government executive of the future, I felt this was for me!
My current role is Service Manager for Social Work Systems and Development in Children's Social Care, Essex County Council. I have a broad range of responsibilities, report to the director of Children's Social Care, and am part of the senior management team. Examples of programmes and projects I might be involved in are; policy, practice guidance and procedure development, system redesign, practice improvement work, value for money projects and involvement in corporate programmes on behalf of my directorate.
I was invited to apply for the challenge by our chief executive. I'll be honest and admit I'd not heard about the Local Government Challenge before that email… but once I'd read the website and what was involved, I knew I couldn't resist. The chance to work with other professionals and councils and help problem solve is a professional challenge I was certain I'd want to do.
While studying for an Honours Degree in Learning Disability Studies at the University of Manchester, I worked as a care assistant and developed a keen interest in social care and the influence social policy and funding decisions have on people's lives.
After university, I was awarded a place on the National Graduate Development Programme. My passion for local government flourished as I adopted a series of management roles in a variety of corporate, frontline and strategic services and projects across Leeds City Council.
In 2011, I gained a full-time post as Marketing and Communications Manager for a large-scale change programme in Leeds City Council's Children's and Adults' Social Care. My work is varied, from directly engaging senior managers and frontline staff to writing communication strategies and organising city-wide events and road shows. In August 2013, I will complete a Masters in Public Leadership and Management from Warwick Business School.
Officers in every council across the UK are working hard to find innovative solutions to meet increasing demands with decreasing resources. I applied to take part in the Local Government Challenge for the once in a life time opportunity to work with others and face some of these challenges head on. I am excited by the prospect of championing local government, learning from others gaining insights into new areas and developing skills to bring back to my work in Leeds City Council. My passion for local government will ensure I rise to every task with determination, commitment and enthusiasm.
In my role as the Strategic Partnerships and Policy Officer in the central policy and performance team at Wiltshire Council, I work across the organisation and with our partners to develop and promote a ‘one culture' approach. In particular, I am the lead for the main strategic partnerships that the council is responsible for.
As is the case for many council jobs, every day is different. I love that! One day I will be writing a summary of a Government policy, the next designing a workshop for a partnership conference, and the next supporting a corporate project. 2013 promises to be just as varied and I am looking forward to:
- providing the Health and Wellbeing Board with policy support
- developing an effective corporate peer challenge for the council in partnership with the LGA
- supporting the council's ‘job families' project to streamline and modernise the way we work.
I first heard about the Local Government Challenge when it was promoted internally. Watching scenes from previous years, I loved the idea of taking part and so jumped at the chance to apply. Being selected as one of the final ten candidates is such a good feeling. Personally, I am looking forward to being challenged by new people and new subjects in new environments. Professionally, it gives me the opportunity to represent my council in a different way, demonstrate what I have learnt so far and bring back new ideas to offer even more in the future. I can't wait!
Working within a Regeneration team, my role as a planner is broad but is in essence about improving Thurrock as a place to work, live and play. In particular, my area of focus is the environment which includes heritage and climate change. This work ranges from supporting external organisations in their delivery of strategic environmental sites where successful partnership working is critical, to directly managing regeneration projects which include planning, sourcing external funding and realising delivery on the ground with community groups. At the moment, I am managing the first stage of a Heritage Lottery Funded project at Coalhouse Fort which potentially could lead to a half a million pounds investment next year and am leading the delivery of heritage phone applications in partnership with 19 European partners. Having always lived in South Essex, I love what I do as my work contributes towards making it an even better place!
I must confess that it was only through the encouragement of senior management that I submitted my application – given the calibre of previous participants, I didn't think I would be good enough! To my surprise I was shortlisted and as soon as I met the other candidates on the assessment day, I knew I wanted to make the final 10. The passion for local government was infectious! The chance to develop myself through the competition alongside such exceptional people is the real prize and so I was elated when I got through. I cannot wait until the challenges begin!
Following a number of different roles in local government and a period working as a private consultant I joined Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council in October 2009 as the Neighbourhood Manager for Parkfield and Mill Lane. I led a small project team to deliver a number of community projects. At the end of this project I was fortunate enough to secure my current role as Community Safety Manager, which is a role I enjoy. I lead a diverse team of officers that work with our colleagues in the Safer Stockton Partnership to reduce crime and the fear of crime in Stockton. The team works within the community to tackle issues of anti-social behaviour as well as provide support to victims of domestic abuse and ASB and counselling and mediation. The team also work in schools to raise awareness of issues such as alcohol. Each day is different and I enjoy the challenge!
I entered the Local Government Challenge as I saw this as an ideal opportunity to work with likeminded individuals on a range of tasks which would both test my existing capabilities and allow me to develop new skills and learn more about my leadership style. I am looking forward to working in a diverse range of areas outside of my usual comfort zone. I am committed to continuing my career development in Stockton and I feel that this is an ideal opportunity for me to learn from others and influence the continual development and improvement of services for local people.