Virginia Ponton:
The Local Government Challenge is an annual competition that has been creating the future leaders of local government for over 10 years, all whilst providing valuable consultancy to local councils. We took ten officers and travelled to five locations where the cohort offered fresh perspectives to different councils.
Hani Milburn-Cox:
South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership was challenge one. It was focused on flood intervention and how that can be linked to greater economic development and growth in the area. And they showcased the area perfectly.
Rose Hampton:
I think as a council Cheltenham was clearly a place looking to the future. They had bold innovative ideas and ambition and were really thinking about how to maximise the great work they had already done while bringing communities and businesses along with them.
Rose Hampton:
Cherwell was an absolutely fantastic council to visit. We learned all waste and the new waste changes that are coming in and affecting local government.
Jack Kennedy:
I thought the councillors and officers the Cherwell showed huge amount of ambition. They were really supportive of our ideas.
Zoe Galvin:
My favourite thing about going to Stockton-on-Tees was getting to work with so many different areas of the council that don't usually go together. I think they're being really innovative and you can really see the benefit of thinking about, adult social care, housing, transport, and community safety.
Felicity Lynch:
I really enjoyed the Wigan challenge because they gave us an opportunity to look at lots of different ideas. I think the council are so open to innovation, they’re really bold in the work that they're doing which allowed us to be bold in the initiatives that we were able to bring forward.
Virginia Ponton:
We started with 10 contestants. We’re down to four finalists here at the LGA annual conference.
Michael Barrett:
They’ve been competing to win the Bruce-Lockhart Scholarship by pitching their own project ideas to delegates and our judging panel.
Sydney Alexander:
So my pitch is all about mobilising local communities on estates through a participatory budgeting process. That means allocating a pot of money for residents to decide collectively what they want to spend it on. Vote on local projects, training up community organisers and really getting creative with events to allow local people to decide what they need to thrive.
Joe Kinsella:
Sydney is great, probably one of the most energetic people I've ever worked with. Always willing to support ideas, always willing to challenge ideas positively. And just a really great person to have on your team.
Hannah Futter:
My idea is called The New Hustle. It’s an untraditional approach to entrepreneurship and employment for young people and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. So, a 12 week programme of challenges setting up networks reducing the barriers to participation in the economy that many of those from disadvantaged backgrounds face.
Lewis Sheldrake:
Hannah brings some really unique skills in terms of being able to think laterally and think about the strategic context as well as that of the operational context. I think she's very much community minded.
Joe Kinsella:
My proposal is about putting care leavers, those young people who have disproportionately worse outcomes compared to their peers, at the forefront of the green future economy. Giving care leavers the skills and the training to be able to live a full life and again good employment.
Leanda Cable:
Joe is, he’s brilliant. He just brings to life the team but given his experience around really serious subjects of social care and he's got that real empathetic view. When we're feeling a bit low as a team, which can't happen when you've been working really hard all day, it’s just that small spark that brings back the energy.
Lewis Sheldrake:
AI labs is about leveraging the power of artificial intelligence into every aspect of local government. This means driving service efficiency, improving the quality of services for our residents, and fostering innovation amongst our workforce. Staff can safely and ethically innovate using artificial intelligence to tackle the challenges that exist in local government.
Hannah Futter:
Lewis has been brilliant at coming up with really innovative ideas. Whenever we need anything around, like, data, innovation, we all just turn to Lewis.
Michael Barrett:
Thanks again to all of our hosts, members, and officers, all of the judges and LGA staff, for making the 2023 programme such a success.
