Challenge 1: South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership

Michelle Sacks:

We are in one of the most exciting places in the country at the moment. We’re in Boston, we are in the heart of our South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership where we have brought three authorities together which is East Lindsey, Boston and South Holland.



Rose Hampton:

This morning we got briefed by all of the team here at Boston council and we got given a very interesting question.



Rob Barlow:

The challenge brief that we’ve been working on is looking at the impacts of the flood risk on our rural and coastal economies.



Joe Kinsella:

A huge thanks to the partnership for putting on this great challenge and for posing such a difficult question.



Cllr Nick Worth:

Flood resilience is really important to all three councils. East Lindsey, there's obviously big worries around the amount of caravans and the implications flooding can have with that. In Boston, you’ve got a new flood barrier which hopefully will solve a lot of flooding issues, and South Holland, the issue is probably more with farmland.



Cllr Paul Skinner:

A high percentage of the crops that are consumed by everybody in England are grown here, and packed here.

Claire Holloway:

What we're looking for from the two teams, one we're looking for the team to work together well. We're looking for them to make the best use of all their various skills and experience. But we're also looking for them to deliver the challenge that’s set by the local authority.



Sydney Alexander:

I'd like to say that I'm surprised that I'm a team captain today, but I'm quite proud of myself for putting my hand up and deciding to do that, especially since I am new to the challenge this year.



Hannah Futter:

So far, we've done lots of discussions, interviews with both officers and councillors. Leanda, one of the members of our team went on a site visit.



Leanda Cable:

That was a really interesting opportunity to meet people and to understand the impacts and the opportunities and challenges in relation to that. It was really emotive it brought a lot things to the front of why we work at local authorities - it's for those communities.



Hani Milburn-Cox:

Team Thrive are in a really good place. We’ve just started to jot our ideas down into the action plan, and are developing up our strategic objectives.



Zoe Galvin:

I feel really inspired by the challenge as a whole. It's really amazing to be working with a coastal community because I'm from Kent, so it's nice to see some of I guess, the synergies between that. But also working for the county authority, I'm getting to work on bits that I wouldn't use to get to touch.



Felicity Lynch:

I am feeling quite stressed, mainly because it's just so out of my comfort zone. The issue itself is very complex. It is not going to be a simple solution.



Jack Kennedy:

I think we’re doing pretty well. We've had a really good session this morning. We’ve got a lot of information from stakeholders. The difficult thing in these kinds of challenges is to distil that information into a couple of really solid significant ideas that we can take forward.



Virginia Ponton:

I think they’re responding very well. They’re asking really, really useful and insightful questions. However, I'm not quite sure if they've got their structure down yet.



Sydney Alexander:

I'm quite confident that we have a clear vision and we had the round table this morning that sense checked that vision and it seems to be going down well.



Michael Barrett:

What I am looking for is good collaborative working, lots of ideas flowing. I really want the team captain to delegate the tasks well and everybody get behind them to make sure that they do the best work that they can.



Hannah Futter:

I don't know how I would describe my leadership style other than generally coming at things by just being myself and trying to be understanding and making sure everyone's voice is heard.



Sydney Alexander:

Honestly it's a bit nerve wracking for me to be team captain. One of the reasons I joined the challenge was really to work on my leadership and management skills, trying to bring everyone in when we're talking about ideas and kind of figuring out a compromise between different people.



Rebecca James:

The personalities in the group are working really well together. They seem to be able to bounce ideas off each other really well but they're not afraid to be really honest with each other and say no I don't think we should do that. Perhaps try it this way. They’re working on the presentation at the moment. They’re sort of sharing ideas, collaborating really well together on that.



Louis Humphreys:

They are working well as a team, playing to their strengths. I'm looking for clear leadership to really play on everyone’s strengths but also deliver something which is genuinely meaningful that we can genuinely use, because that of course is part of the aim of the project.



Sydney Alexander:

Our idea really focused around mobilising the partnership to lead the way on flood resilience. One, that means kind of creating one local voice, to lobby at the national level and two, that’s about building local skills through a centre of excellence to really look at how we can make some of these innovations happen.



Hannah Futter:

So our idea mainly centred on skills and innovation, and diversifying the economy through green tourism and how we can provide practical solutions to bring those two things together. When we came out of the presentation, we did a video diary and we're talking over each other because we’re so excited.



Team Catalyst:

So we've just finished our presentation (time is 15:00 hours) we managed to get it in on time and we managed to do the presentation on time, and I think we thoroughly enjoyed it really. We basically smashed I’d say (yeah).



Sydney Alexander:

I think the best moment for me was walking out of the door for the presentation. Just seeing how excited people were.



Claire Holloway:

Choosing the winning team was quite difficult this time round, but in the end we chose Team Thrive because we felt that they were the ones who had responded most closely to the brief that they were given.



Cllr Craig Leyland:

I think they had an understanding of our challenges in terms of relationships that we need to take our issues forward and solve them, and also they had an understanding of the very dynamic and complex nature of our problems.



Rob Barlow:

We’ve seen some immense thinking and creativity and innovation to a problem that will need addressing over the coming decades.



Cllr Craig Leyland:

The whole thing has been really a good experience and I would encourage any other councils that have the potential to do this to get involved. It brings fresh ideas in, it innovates, and it's actually really good to see young talent developing before your eyes.



Rob Barlow:

It all helps towards raising the standards for our own workforce, and identifies the opportunities and awareness of the talent that exists in local government.



Sydney Alexander:

I think one thing I’ve learned is maybe to be bit more confident as a leader in our idea and how that can trickle down. I don’t know if we were expecting to win, I’m glad I did, and I hope I can take that learning into the second challenge.

One of the collective priorities and a shared challenge for S&ELCP is in relation to flood risk in the area. Boston Borough was identified in 2022 as having the highest percentage of properties at risk of flooding in England, with South Holland ranking second. 38 per cent of East Lindsey District is in an area of high coastal flood risk. This presents a twofold challenge for the sub-region. Firstly, the ongoing challenge of ensuring that they are resilient against flooding in the area. Secondly, the impact that flooding and flood risk has on the prosperity of coastal communities, and the economic value of land and assets within the coastal zone. This second challenge is set against a greater backdrop of deprivation within the area, and the unique challenges of each council.