Challenge 5: Telford and Wrekin Council

Helen Murray:
Today we’re in the borough of Telford and Wrekin, which is a fantastic council, really pleased that they decided to take part in this challenge. It's a borough of two halves and a really interesting place to be.

David Sidaway:
The challenge we've set is around the use of AI to respond to a couple of challenges within the borough of Telford and Wrekin. They are to respond to health inequalities and also to the skills gap. So using AI to determine better outcomes for our residents is something we're delighted to be working with the contestants on.

Michael Barrett:
Team Dynamic are going to be captained by Faith, and their focus on this challenge is going to be health inequalities and Team Victorious are captained by Kerry and their focus is going to be all about the skills gap. Both teams are going to be researching and investigating how AI can be harnessed by Telford and Wrekin, and how they can address the societal challenges faced across the borough.

Kerry Challoner:
In Telford but there's a big skills gap, effectively. Attainment levels are lower than the national average in schools and also aspiration levels aren't as high as they could be.

Faith Scott Deuchar:
We've had lots and lots of team time, but we also went on a minibus tour around Telford and Wrekin. We visited an organisation called A Better Tomorrow that works with adults in recovery. Also adults who might be fleeing domestic abuse and those who are struggling with their mental health as well. And we talked a lot to the people involved in working for that organisation, and about how new technology and new opportunities offered by AI might help us to narrow the gaps between different cohorts of people and to reduce health inequalities in the borough.

Marelize De Beurs:
As part of our visit today, we went to In-Comm Training and they have some very impressive facilities to support engineering manufacturing apprentices, and they work closely with local businesses on serving their needs and also addressing the needs of the young people and the apprentices working with them. Talking to some of the managers there it has given us some ideas in how we might address some of the skills gaps in the borough.

Helen Gelder:
We also, during the tour, attended some of the developments around the levelling up funding and we got to see the station developments, but also the new building, The Quad, which will be a digital hub, and there’ll also be a sixth form offering built alongside that using some of the existing buildings. We saw some really cool equipment in terms of health and wellbeing at Telford College, where we saw some models that they use in AI technology to teach the students around health and social care. We were all really fascinated with that.

Jack Pearce:
I've been doing research into Telford and Wrekin and the specific issues here around health inequalities. I've learned a lot about the different areas council covers. Some quite stark statistics around the different health outcomes between different areas. In terms of AI, we've sort of touched on some of the ways that AI is being used in other areas, other parts of the world, and trying to see how we might be able to apply that here.

Ramisa Yazdani Biouki: 
Having lost four times, I'm doing really well. I've kept resilient. I've kept motivated. I'm still here, still standing. We went on this lovely trip to Ironbridge it was so beautiful, so green, so serene, and everyone was so friendly. And then we got back to the hotel and did another hour of getting our ideas together. And then we called it a night.

Kerry Challoner: 
Day two. And here we go again. It's gonna be fine though. It's going to be fine. There is so much potential for AI to actually support and disrupt local government and deliver essential services at a reduced cost.

Faith Scott Deuchar:
Really excited about this challenge and how interesting it is, I think we've all got lots of ideas. So hoping we have a good productive day today. After a long late night last night. 

Virginia Ponton:
The teams have a lot of team time this morning to be able to finalise their proposals for their presentations later today. There's an added excitement in the air because after those presentations, we’ll find out who our four finalists are, who will go through to compete for the Bruce-Lockhart Scholarship.

Hannah Barton:
We're now finishing up the report and the presentation. We haven't had any ideas testing, today which is quite different from the other challenges, but it has given us much more time as a team. I think we're doing well. This challenge feels different, I think, because the timetable hasn't been so compressed, and because there's four of us as well, because we’re sadly missing a couple of members this time. It’s almost lost a little bit of the competitive edge, which can be a good thing sometimes.

Adam Towers:
Yesterday was really productive. We had a massive brainstorm with tens of sticky notes all over the wall. We’re feeling really positive. Not just because the presentation and the report are going well, but because Telford has been such a welcoming authority. We’ve been really impressed with the amount of time that senior officers have given us. Everybody’s been really warm, really friendly. Lovely premises as well. A really, really nice civic centre.

Kerry Challoner:
We've just got our report in and now we're focusing on the presentation. We have four parts to our proposals. The first part is the AI JobBot. The second part is the AI learning platform. Thirdly, we have the AI Foundry, which is a centre of excellence. And finally we have the AI Roadshow, getting out there to our residents and businesses.

Faith Scott Deuchar:
Our proposal is to implement a multi-level model to use AI to tackle health inequalities in Telford and Wrekin. This model focuses on universal tools, predictive analytics, and then targeted AI interventions for the most vulnerable residents and those who are at most need of having their health needs met.

Jon Power:
Today we chose Team Dynamic as the winning team. They gave us some very practical examples and recommendations, a really coherent framework for implementation, they picked up some short, medium, and long term objectives for us to work against. Really good focus on co-production with our community, ensuring that they understood why and how we were going to use AI and how we were going to use their data.

Kerry Challoner:
We got some really good feedback. Obviously on the day it’s a bit of a shame, but we're still happy to be involved in the process. It’s a win all round.

Faith Scott Deuchar:
The challenge today was a real combination of all of the team and all of the expertise and knowledge and the hard work that we will put in. Ramisa was absolutely fantastic today. She brought so much to the team. I think our passion came across really well and how interested me were in the topic also, I think came through in the presentation.

Claire Holloway:
We now know our 4 finalists for the Local Government Challenge 2024 and they are Hannah from Stroud Council. Faith from Islington Council. Marelize from Basingstoke and Deane, and Jack from Buckinghamshire. So what happens next? We will hold the final. I can guarantee that it will be an exciting event. And not only will it involve our four finalists, but I hope that all our contestants will come back and be a part of that.

From Ironbridge’s historic role in the industrial revolution to the creation and development of a new town, Telford and Wrekin has a proud reputation for innovation and enterprise. The borough is a thriving and attractive place that residents are proud of and a desirable location to live, work and raise a family thanks to the high quality of life on offer:

• An award-winning council - the MJ’s Local Authority of the Year 2022, APSE Council of the Year and Co-op Council of the Year in 2021, Outstanding Ofsted and CQC ratings, and Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award in 2020.
• With an enabling and supportive approach to supporting business and securing investment as a business supporting, business winning Council secured a track record of securing significant inward investment - with one of the largest foreign direct investments into the UK in recent years Magna Casting has built a casting plan for Jaguar Land Rover parts. 
• A growing reputation as a place people want to come to live - with a population of 185,600 and with a population growth of 11.4% for the period 2011-2021, the borough is the fastest growing area in the West Midlands, 7th fastest amongst the 63 largest towns and cities in the UK, and 20th fastest area overall in England and Wales. Migration from Birmingham and the Black Country accounts for the majority of the borough’s annual population growth.
• Housebuilding rates in Telford and Wrekin consistently rank among the highest nationwide, ranking 1st in the Centre for Cities’ Cities Outlook 2024.

Whilst the borough has a thriving, growing economy, a key challenge for the borough is to maintain its strong record of growth to the benefit of all residents to address the inequalities that exist between the borough’s different communities: