The 2014 Local Government Challenge kicked off in East London last month, as 10 new contestants from across local government began their battle for the coveted £10,000 Bruce Lockhart Scholarship.

The challenge
Thurrock BC and Barking & Dagenham LBC jointly hosted the first of the five challenges that will take place across the country between January and May 2014, culminating in the final at the Local Government Association (LGA) annual conference in Bournemouth in July.

Graham Farrant, chief executive of the two councils, set the objectives.  Building on the existing successful shared legal service, the experience of sharing a chief executive and strategy team, and the challenge of securing over £100m of savings over the next three years, the 10 contestants were asked to consider what was next for the two councils on their shared services journey.

The first task – to agree a team name and a team leader for the challenge. Team
Engage elected Graeme Kane, strategic leadership manager at Mole Valley DC,
while Matthew Carney, Worcester City Council's planning transformation officer,
took the helm for Team LG Generation.

With no time to get to know their teammates, Engage and LG Generation embarked on a packed schedule of meetings including starting with a speed networking sessions with senior officers and members, and a series of focus groups with staff from across both boroughs.

Next up, a guided tour of regeneration sites across both councils.  Employment-led growth is a top priority for both councils. Private sector investment of £11bn and the creation of 36,000 jobs and 30,000 homes is set to transform the landscape along the River Thames over the next decade.

Back at the hotel, the teams worked late into the night, distilling the plethora of information into a business case and a staff engagement plan and preparing for their forthcoming meetings with Thurrock's opposition leader and a selection of union representatives.

Both meetings unearthed some new angles for the teams to consider in finalising their business cases and in presenting their findings to the judges.

The verdict
With business cases submitted and scrutinised, the two teams assembled in the Thurrock BC chamber to present their staff engagement proposals, and face a grilling from the panel of judges – Graham Farrant, Thurrock leader, Cllr John Kent, and LGA head of corporate governance (and sponsor of the LG Challenge) Claire Holloway.

Engage were first to face the barrage, followed by LG Generation.  The judges withdrew. Fifteen minutes later they returned with the verdict – the winner of the first challenge, and of the coveted five bonus points, was Engage.

But, there was no room for complacency for either team. In some tough, but constructive feedback, the judges made it clear that neither team had been sufficiently bold in their proposals, or shown the passion for the subject expected of LG Challenge contestants.

So, one challenge down and all still to play for, next stop is Gedling BC in Nottinghamshire for a very different challenge, and an opportunity for both teams to demonstrate their passion for local government and their willingness to push the boundaries to produce some very creative proposals.

Jonathan Yeates is a management trainee at the LGA