Paul Knight, Senior Policy and Performance Officer at South Cambridgeshire District Council (SCDC), has won the final of the Local Government Challenge 2011.
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Paul’s prize in the Local Government Challenge was a £10k scholarship, which he’ll use on a project to benefit the residents of South Cambridgeshire, along with additional funding he has managed to secure. This will be used to develop and launch a website for the local community, which will allow people to access and share information about their local area.
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Objective of The Local Government Challenge.
The Local Government Challenge is a national competition designed to give local government staff with the drive and determination to reach the top, an opportunity to demonstrate their individual and team-working skills. Candidates for the Local Government Challenge took part in five tough challenges between January and May 2011 that tested their creative, communication and leadership skills.
Ten contestants were whittled down to four for this year’s Local Government Challenge final which took place at the LGA Annual Conference in Birmingham. Contestants were asked to present a proposal that promotes localism, and faced a tough question and answer session in a ‘Question Time’ style.
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After pitching his idea to the judges, Paul faced a nervous wait for the result before he was announced the winner of the Local Government Challenge.
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Statement by the Local Government Challenge Winner
Paul said: “To be part of the Local Government Challenge has been a privilege. To have won is very exciting and I’m honoured to receive the Bruce Lockhart Scholarship. It’s been a fantastic and intense journey and along the way we’ve helped local authorities tackle some very challenging issues, all in the pursuit of excellent services for low cost.”
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Jean Hunter, Chief Executive of SCDC, said: “This is a fantastic achievement and we’re really proud of Paul. He has faced stiff competition from around the country but his enthusiasm and talent has stood out at every stage of this rigorous competition.
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“Paul has already brought a significant amount of learning back to SCDC from the competition and will also now have the funding to progress an exciting project for the benefit our local communities.”
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Details of the Local Government Challenge competition
You can read more about the Local Government Challenge competition, the episodes and challenges and meet the other candidates, and see the Hon Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government announce the winner here on the Local Government Challenge website.
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I think it is fair to say we are all proud of Paul’s achievement in the Local Government Challenge. I know he worked very hard and prepared well for the competition. As I said to him the day before he left for the finals, “Go, Paul, Go”.
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You can uncross those toes now! Well done “Professor Knight”, winner of the 2011 Local Government Challenge.
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