Challenge 4: Warwickshire County Council

Michael Barrett, Programme Manager, Local Government Association (LGA)
We’re in Warwickshire County Council for challenge four of the LG challenge 2026. And the topic here is the council’s programme called Creating Opportunities.

Monica Fogarty, Chief Executive, Warwickshire County Council 
Warwickshire is a county in the middle of England our population is pushing 630,000. There’s quite a bit of diversity. And as a county council of course we have to rise to those challenges of different needs, different demands in areas across the county.

Michael Barrett, Programme Manager, LGA
It’s a really interesting challenge because the two teams will have two separate areas of focus. Team Athena, captained by Vic, will be looking at care levers. And team Paradigm, captained by Eden will be looking at social mobility across the county. As the agenda is slightly different for the teams with their areas of focus, the teams will be still going out on site visits across the county meeting local residents and business owners connected to the challenge.

Virginia Ponton, Programme Manager, LGA
The cohort have a lot of experience and passion for local communities. And there is lived experience across both teams for the subject areas. So it’s something that they can lean into from that perspective. So they’re bringing that passion and experience together with their leadership skills. And on this challenge, we think they’ll focus a lot on business acumen and collaborative working. And that’s collaboration with the communities that they’ve seen on the site visits, as well as of course with each other and the senior colleagues at the council that they’ve met.

Vic Lewis, Principal Policy Officer, Bolton Council
We’re being asked to look at how Warwickshire as a place can come together and support care leaves and maximise their career opportunities. So for us, we’re thinking about the council and its role in different veins. So it’s role as an employer, it’s role as the corporate parent and also its role as an influencer in the local economy. One of my previous roles was all about supporting care leaves. So I really feel that personal collection to the challenge. I think as we’ve been going through the challenge, I hear their voices in my head. So I really feel like there’s something to ground us in this challenge to real people’s experiences.

Eden Singh, Principal Tenant Engagement Officer, Fareham Borough Council
So our question is about how the council can increase social mobility in different areas, particularly their local priority areas. So our first initial thoughts are what is the council already doing and what’s working? For us, it’s about thinking of those quick wins, but also looking at that longer term plan and make a strategic vision protected and future-proofed with LGR.

Vic Lewis, Principal Policy Officer, Bolton Council
Our proposal is to build into the Creating Opportunities programme a people dimension. So at the moment it’s quite focused on place-based work, but we want to look at what that means for groups of people. And using that, we want to embed the council’s role in its widest sense. And for that, for us it’s threefold, as a parent, as an employer, and as a partner. The impact for Warwickshire would be, they’ve got a strong foundation for support for care leavers, but this will take it to that next level and provide a really comprehensive approach that sets them apart from other areas and makes it the best place for creating opportunities for care leavers.

Eden Singh, Principal Tenant Engagement Officer, Fareham Borough Council
So we came up with a project called Realising Potential, which builds on the council’s already successful Creating Opportunities programme, but takes it that step further. So it starts with that internal focus, understanding firstly what is social mobility to Warwick County Council? And then we had had three tangible quick wins and the future big project.

Councillor George Finch, Leader, Warwickshire County Council
The team Athena won and their proposal was about supporting our care leaver scheme. I think it’s a really good policy to work on especially because you’ve got people, young people and children that have lived through quite difficult times. That’s what we want to strive for and that’s what we want to do as a council so hearing what they’ve got to say, and some of the team members actually had previous experience being care leave themselves, or working in that sector before. So it’s good to have that knowledge bringing it in and using it in Warwickshire. It can help us learn and expand our knowledge base and what we can do for the future for the residents of Warwickshire and it’s just good to listen to what other people have to say, we can magpie some ideas, see what we can use and make it Warwick share specific.

Vic Lewis, Principal Policy Officer, Bolton Council
I’m really proud because this was a cause that was quite close to my heart so I’m glad that sort of passion and the energy for these young people came across in our presentation. I think someone mentioned yesterday about it’s like building a plane whilst you’re on it. And that’s definitely the vibe that we felt because you’re trying to organise your own thoughts at the same time as leading your team.

Eden Singh, Principal Tenant Engagement Officer, Fareham Borough Council
Yeah, it’s a real shame that we lost because we put a lot of hard work in, but I think my team were brilliant. I think it’s been amazing. If I could see like where I started, where I am now, I’d be really proud of myself because you get put in a situation where you’ve not been to the council before and you’re expected to come up with something really quickly. And it’s possible, which is absolutely astounding. And I found that you almost get into a rhythm where you develop confidence. So it’s a real good chance to throw yourself in and just in a safe environment and learn a lot.