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 October 2023 to 1 August 2025 (inclusive).Applicants must have at least one year’s continuous service within a local authority. You can change jobs during the period, 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. You can apply to take part in the competition if you are on leave (e.g. maternity, paternity or sick leave) at any stage between 1 October 2023 to 1 August 2025 (inclusive), provided that your employer is an LGA member authority and that you can comply with all the other terms and conditions of this competition. 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, but we would expect you to have some public sector work experience. A mix of grades is valuable for learning.
3. You must have your line manager’s permission to take part in the competition at the time you apply, in accordance with the requirements set out in the application form. If you are on secondment at any point from 1 October 2023 to 1 August 2025 (inclusive), you must have the permission of your line manager in both (or all) organisations, including your substantive employer, to take part in the competition. If you change jobs during the competition, you must provide supplementary evidence of your new line manager’s consent for you to continue to participate in the competition.
4. You must apply online for the LG Challenge 2024. Postal entries will not be accepted. Applications open on 1 October 2023. The closing date for the receipt of applications is 12 noon on Friday 29 September 2023. 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 council staff designing or running challenges for the 2024 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 on or 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 from January 2024 to May 2024 (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. 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 Bruce-Lockhart 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 Bruce-Lockhart Scholarship, to fulfil the objectives set out in paragraph 23 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 after 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:
- 19.1 the criteria set out in paragraph 7 above, and
- 19.2 the finalists’ costed proposals for use of the Bruce-Lockhart 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 Bruce-Lockhart 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 with the UK, USA and Europe;
- 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 Bruce-Lockhart Leadership Programme 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 must remain an employee of an LGA member authority for the full period of the Bruce-Lockhart Scholarship. Failure to satisfy this requirement may result in some or all of the scholarship having to be repaid by the winner.
25. All reports and findings produced by the winner will be published online as best practice case studies by the Bruce-Lockhart Leadership Programme, and recipients of the Scholarship may be required to present their findings at an event or workshop.
General
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 Local Government 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. Applicants must sign an acceptance of these terms and conditions at the time they apply and contestants must adhere to all the terms and conditions throughout the competition.
31. This agreement does not constitute any form of employment of the contestants by the LGA or organisations controlled by the LGA.
32. The LGA may terminate this Agreement in relation to any contestants with immediate effect for any of the following reasons:
- 32.1 if they are unable to take part in any of the challenges
- 32.2 if they bring or seek to bring the LGA or its partners into disrepute
- 32.3 if they breach any term of this agreement
33. 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.
34. 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.
35. 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.
Promoter: The Local Government Association, 18 Smith Square, London SW1P 3HZ