LG Challenge seeks to bring together a team of diverse contestants as we believe that local authorities have a duty to reflect the diverse communities that they serve, in order to effectively tackle complex local problems. We are therefore looking for people who demonstrate their motivation for a career in the public sector, from all backgrounds, council service areas and levels of experience.
Entry into the Local Government Challenge (“the competition”) is subject to acceptance of these terms and conditions:
1. Applicants must be full or part time employees, including those on fixed term contracts, who are employed by an LGA member authority from 1 January 2026 to 1 August 2028 (inclusive). Applicants must currently be in a role with at least one year’s continuous service at that local authority. You can change jobs during the course of the programme, but you must remain an employee of an LGA member authority throughout. The LGA member authority/ies that employ(s) you must be in membership of the LGA throughout the same period. If you are on secondment at any stage during the competition period, your substantive employer must be an LGA member authority and your hosting organisation must be in the public or voluntary sectors. For the avoidance of doubt, the competition is not open to temporary, casual or agency staff (i.e. anyone not on a permanent or fixed-term contract). Consultants, contractors or self-employed people can only apply if they are employed by an LGA member authority under a contract of employment.
2. There are no age or grade restrictions for applicants. A mix of grades is valuable for learning.
3. You must have approval from your line manager as well as your Chief Executive or an SMT Sponsor to join the programme. During the application process, you will need to confirm that you have this approval and we will contact you with a deadline during the shortlisting stage if you do not have permission at the time of applying. If you are on secondment at any point from the date that you apply to 1 August 2028 (inclusive), you must have the permission of your line manager and your Chief Executive or an SMT Sponsor in both (or all) organisations, including your substantive employer, to apply for and take part in the competition. If you change jobs during the competition, you must provide supplementary evidence of your new consent from your line manager and your Chief Executive or an SMT Sponsor for you to continue to participate in the competition.
4. You must apply online for the LG Challenge 2027. Applications open on Thursday 9 July 2026. The closing date for the receipt of applications is 12 noon on Monday 7 September 2026. The LGA reserves the right to extend the closing date. Your application must be completed by the closing date. Incomplete entries, entries on behalf of another person and joint entries will not be accepted. Only one entry per person can be accepted.
5. The competition is not open to:
- 5.1 staff working at, or on secondment to, the LGA, or
- 5.2 staff at authorities hosting, designing or running challenges for the 2027 programme, or
- 5.3 any of the judges, or
- 5.4 any previous contestants of the Local Government Challenge
6. The competition is not open to close family members (partners, parents, siblings or children) of:
- 6.1 the judges, or
- 6.2 an employee of the LGA’s contractors/subcontractors who are involved in the competition (e.g. carrying out filming etc), or
- 6.3 anyone else directly connected to the competition (e.g. sponsors)
Judging
7. Throughout the competition, a judging panel as well as LGA observers will assess contestants on the following skills:
- 7.1 innovation and problem solving
- 7.2 political awareness
- 7.3 business acumen
- 7.4 ability to inspire and motivate others
- 7.5 working collaboratively with others
- 7.6 communication
8. Scores will be allocated based on the contestants’ demonstration of these skills (including their demonstrating an improvement in these skills) over the duration of the competition. The specified number of contestants with the highest scores at the end of the challenge stage will progress to the final stages (please see paragraphs 15 – 20 below). The scores will then be reset to zero and the finalists will be assessed on their performance in the final stages.
9. The judges’ decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into concerning the outcome of the competition.
Selection of contestants
10. Selection will be carried out in two stages:
- 10.1 First sift: The Local Government Challenge project team will assess all the application forms submitted by applicants against the skills set out in paragraph 7 above. A shortlist of applicants will be put forward to the next stage (the second sift).
- 10.2 Second sift: Those who have been shortlisted will go on to have a decision made by a senior LGA panel to select the final 10 contestants.
11. Following the closing of applications and after the cohort has been chosen, we will endeavour to provide feedback upon request to unsuccessful candidates. We will write back to all applicants to let them know whether they have been successful or not on this occasion. We will also notify two applicants that we would hold as reserves.
12. The 10 selected contestants will progress to the challenge stage. Reserves will only fill a vacancy if it arises before the date of the second challenge. Reserves will not be substituted into the competition if someone withdraws from the competition after the second challenge has been concluded.
The challenge stage
13. There will be five challenges held across England and Wales between January 2027 to June 2027 (inclusive) and each challenge will last for approximately 24 hours (across two days) at the host authority. Contestants must make themselves available for all challenges, which will include travel, overnight stays and/or unsocial hours, and potential pre-night stays due to challenge locations and travel time across the country. The LGA will pay contestants’ travel, accommodation and subsistence costs connected with their involvement in the competition. Whilst the LGA and its partners will try not to alter dates, times and locations of the challenges, we reserve the right to change these if necessary, but we will try to provide as much notice as possible of any such changes, and in any such case at least one week’s notice.
14. Contestants must attend all five challenges, unless there are exceptional circumstances and non-attendance is agreed with the LGA for one challenge. The LGA may disqualify a competitor from competing for the Scholarship if they do not attend at least four of the challenges, however they will be permitted to attend any remaining challenges as a contestant.
The final stages
15. The judges will specify how many contestants progress to the final stages (referred to from here onwards as ‘the finalists’) which will be held during the LGA Annual Conference. The LGA will pay the finalists’ reasonable travel, accommodation and subsistence costs to attend the necessary sessions for the competition at the LGA Annual Conference.
16. The finalists must submit to the Local Government Challenge project team a costed proposal, setting out how they would use the Scholarship, to fulfil the objectives set out in paragraph 21 below, by a deadline provided by the LGA ahead of conference. If any finalist does not meet the deadline, the LGA reserves the right to remove them and to offer that place to the next highest scoring competitor.
17. The finalists will be announced at the close of the fifth challenge.
18. The final will be hosted at the LGA Annual Conference, where finalists will gather feedback from conference delegates and then have an interview with a judging panel, which will consist of senior local government officers and councillors.
19. The panel will judge the finalists on the basis of the finalists’ costed proposals for use of the Scholarship, to fulfil the objectives set out in paragraph 21 below.
20. The remaining contestants not selected to take part in the final may also be invited to attend the LGA Annual Conference. The LGA will pay those contestants’ reasonable travel, accommodation and subsistence costs to attend any sessions required.
The Scholarship
21. The winner of the competition will receive the Bruce-Lockhart Scholarship. The scholarship will offer up to £10,000 for the winning competitor to undertake a project (endorsed by their employer) of up to 12 months in duration to satisfy the following three criteria:
- 21.1 promote localism and local government through the exchange of ideas globally.
- 21.2 encourage successful ideas to be put into practice locally; and
- 21.3 publish the findings to promote best practice and raise the status of local leadership and local government in the UK.
22. The winner will be expected to use the money on the basis of the proposal that they presented to the judging panel during the final interview (and as endorsed by their employer) and to give prominent credit to the LG Challenge in all published material arising from the project.
23. Payment of the Scholarship will be in instalments, agreed in advance with the winner. The final payment will only be made on completion of the project.
24. The winner or a named representative of the winner’s authority must be available to undertake the scholarship project to completion. They must be an LGA member authority for the period of the scholarship. Failure to satisfy this requirement may result in some or all of the scholarship having to be repaid.
25. All reports and findings produced by the winner will be published online as best practice case studies by the LG Challenge, and recipients of the Scholarship may be required to present their findings at an event or workshop.
26. Contestants will be filmed by the LGA’s contractors/subcontractors and competitors’ names, business profiles and images will be used throughout the competition and at the awards ceremony. In addition, competitors’ names, business profiles and images may be used to promote future LG Challenge competitions and/or to promote working in the public sector. The ten contestants (and any reserves as necessary) consent to such use of their names, business profiles and images. The competition may attract local and national media coverage and so it is realistic to assume that contestants’ names, business profiles and images may be reproduced widely in the media and via the internet. Whilst all reasonable steps will be taken to ensure the accuracy of press statements and other material issued by the LGA and its contractors/subcontractors, the LGA cannot be held responsible for inaccurate onward reporting.
27. By agreeing to these terms and conditions, successful applicants will treat all confidential information as part of the challenges as strictly confidential.
28. We will liaise with competitors and hosting authorities to ensure that appropriate insurance cover is provided throughout the competition and that relevant health and safety requirements are adhered to, so far as those are within the LGA’s control.
29. Contestants will assume sole responsibility for their own actions and their own safety during the challenges and the final stages for such periods when they are not accompanying representatives of the LGA or its partners on any organised element of the competition. Each contestant agrees to act in accordance with any reasonable instructions given to them by or on behalf of the LGA or its partners, to act at all times with due and proper consideration for others and to observe, respect and abide by any applicable laws, guidelines or reasonable instructions. The LGA accepts no responsibility for and excludes all liability to the fullest extent permitted by law for any breach by any contestants of this clause and for contestants’ own actions and their own safety during the competition for such periods when they are not accompanying representatives of the LGA or its partners on any organised element of the competition, providing that the LGA does not seek to exclude any liability to the contestants for any death or personal injury caused by the negligence of the LGA.
30. This agreement does not constitute any form of employment of the contestants by the LGA or organisations controlled by the LGA.
Conduct on leadership programmes
31. LGA leadership programmes provide training and development opportunities which help cultivate exemplary leaders: councillors and officers able to deliver effectively in their roles, to the highest standards. Our programmes support councillors and officers to navigate complexity, harness opportunities and address live and emerging challenges.
32. Each of our programmes brings together a cohort of diverse delegates from across local government to improve their knowledge, skills and abilities and develop their personal leadership style and approach. In order to foster an environment of open and constructive dialogue and learning, delegates are expected to treat the beliefs, opinions and perspectives of others with respect.
33. Delegates are expected to treat others with respect and not harass or unlawfully discriminate against any person. If you have any concerns about inappropriate behaviour whilst on a leadership programme, please raise this with an LGA, or LGA partner, member of staff. The LGA reserves the right to remove any delegate from the programme if their behaviour is seriously inappropriate, disruptive, or in breach of these expectations.
34. Delegates should be mindful of remaining courteous and impartial and should not behave in any way that may damage the LGA or its reputation.
35. Alcohol is not provided on leadership courses, although it may be offered at LGA-hosted celebration events, and you may choose to purchase alcohol yourself. If you choose to drink, you are responsible for the amount of alcohol you consume and you should be mindful of the impact it can have on you and those around you. You are expected to behave in a professional manner at all times. You will assume sole responsibility for their own actions and their own health and safety, in particular, during periods of time outside of organised sessions when they are not accompanied by representatives of the LGA or its partners.
36. You are expected to behave in a professional manner at all times. This includes travel to the programme and any free time spent at the programme venue e.g. in the morning before activities start and in the evening including at dinner and any further networking or socialising.
37. Feedback may be provided by the programme delivery team or other delegates as part of the programme. Leadership programmes involve developing as leaders, which can mean addressing areas where you might not be as skilled or experienced as you are in other areas. Feedback must always be provided in a constructive and respectful way.
General
38. The LGA may terminate this Agreement in relation to any contestants with immediate effect for any of the following reasons:
- 38.1 if they are unable to take part in any of the challenges
- 38.2 if they bring or seek to bring the LGA or its partners into disrepute
- 38.3 if they breach any term of this agreement
39. The LGA and its partners reserve the right at any time and from time to time to modify or discontinue (temporarily or permanently) this competition with or without prior notice due to reasons outside their control.
40. The LGA reserves the right at any time to change these terms and conditions. The LGA will post revised terms and conditions on the competition website.
41. These terms and conditions set out the entire Agreement between the contestant and the LGA and supersede any and all previous agreements whether written or oral. This Agreement is personal to the contestants and cannot be assigned to anyone else. This Agreement shall be subject to and interpreted in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and the parties shall submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
Reasonable adjustments
42. The LGA is committed to ensuring our programmes and events are as inclusive as possible, including where reasonable adjustments may be requested. In order to ensure we can fulfil this commitment we ask that requests be clearly stated to the LGA prior to the event. Whilst we will do our best to accommodate any support needs as they arise, we cannot guarantee that these can be accommodated without prior notice.
43. Applicants must accept these terms and conditions at the time they apply and contestants must adhere to all the terms and conditions throughout the competition.
Promoter: The Local Government Association, 18 Smith Square, London SW1P 3HZ