We’ve been shortlisted for Large Team of the Year in the LGC Awards!

We are delighted to have made the shortlist for the Large Team of the Year in the Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Awards 2023.

Our ESL team has 166 members and is made up of a family of smaller units: Adult and Community Learning; Apprenticeships; Employment Support; Young Careers and Pathways.

We engage with more than 10,000 young people and adults each year, many on the lowest incomes and facing multiple challenges.

The submission covered the period when communities were coming out of Covid-19 restrictions, when the team (and service users) were still recovering from the impact of the pandemic. We have a highly supportive culture and, through this difficult time, we pulled together through manager and peer support, imaginative use of remote technologies and reintroducing face-to-face meetups as soon as these were safely allowed.

Our team objectives, outlined in the bid and a key consideration for the judging panel, reflect the Mayoral Manifesto and Corporate Strategy priorities. Through all the work in the period of the submission (2021/22), the ESL Team exceeded all performance targets and made a significant contribution to wider council objectives including those around Adult and Community Learning, Apprenticeships, Employment Support and Young Careers and Pathways. Part of this success was our ability to forge close, effective relationships with more 1,000 private sector employers. These included a mix of global, national and local small and medium enterprise organisations.

ESL made the shortlist by demonstrating strong performances around innovation, resilience, inclusivity and results. The winners will be announced on 8 June, with the shortlisted entries judged on:

• ​​​​The team’s performance and in particular evidence showing the extent to which it achieved its objectives and contributed to the council’s wider objectives (during the period 2021/22)
• The team’s responsiveness to changing customer needs, evidence on its performance and the council’s strategic objectives
• Its demonstrable commitment to developing effective team working and the wider challenge it has faced.

Wish us luck for the LGC finals on 8 June!