2022 Local Government Apprentice of the Year announced

Chantelle Holt from North Norfolk District Council has been named as the 2022 Local Government Apprentice of the Year.

Chantelle, who is a Revenues Officer and a Level 3 apprentice in Business and Administration, won the award by competing in a virtual day of challenges set to encourage participants to showcase their skills, expertise, and initiative.

The national event, now in its second year, was designed and delivered by South West Councils and the East of England Local Government Association with support from the LGA.

More than 100 Level 2 and 3 local government apprentices from across the country took part in the one-day event, with activities which encouraged them to learn, network and showcase their skills, expertise, and initiative.

Building on the success of the 2021 pilot of this national event, all those taking part were either current apprentices or qualified within the last 12 months. Each activity was designed to help develop successful workplace behaviours, linked to a range of apprenticeship standards, with each participant receiving an individual report with their scores for each activity and an Employer Checklist with suggested questions for line managers to use with their apprentices.

As well as Chantelle’s individual success, awards were also presented to the joint runners up, Andrianna Antoniou and Olivia Watts,  and to the winning team. Apprenticeships and Skills Minister Alex Burghart was a guest speaker at the event, taking part in a Q&A with attendees and reflecting on the importance of apprenticeships, particularly in local government.

The LGA, which represents councils in England and Wales, works to support councils across the country to deliver successful apprenticeship schemes to help young people into training and employment as part of its sector support offer.

Its Apprenticeship Support Programme helps councils to share good practice, provides advice and guidance, supports councils to problem-solve via an action learning programme and audits council apprenticeship programmes through ‘Apprenticeships MOT’ health checks.

Apprenticeship opportunities in local government have expanded significantly in the last four years, with councils in England creating more than 55,000 apprenticeships in over 150 different fields.

Chantelle Holt, Revenues Officer, North Norfolk District Council and the 2022 Local Government Apprentice of the Year said:

“I am absolutely shocked, delighted and honoured to be crowned this year’s Apprentice of the Year 2022, representing one of five apprentices from North Norfolk District Council who took part. What an incredible way to celebrate and bring together local government apprentices from up and down the country, as well as meeting other colleagues from all walks of life for a common goal.

“The day itself was very full-on and intense, but made clear and easy by our hosts and development leads. A huge congratulations to the other winners and to everyone who took part in this event, it has been invaluable. I have learned a lot about myself, my skills and my working style and I’m so grateful to be able to bring that insight back into my role as a Revenues Officer and beyond. This is only the beginning of my career and I cannot wait to see where this will take me.”

Cllr James Jamieson, Chairman of the LGA said:

“Congratulations to Chantelle for becoming the Local Government Apprentice of the Year, as well as all the others who have taken part. We know and appreciate just how incredibly important our apprentices are in local government, as they help councils continue to deliver the vital services our residents need during what are still challenging times. Being able to celebrate and recognise this success is great and I want to thank our apprentices across the country for their dedication and hard work.”

Bryony Houlden, Chief Executive of South West Councils (event co-chair):

“It was fantastic to witness the energy and enthusiasm of over 100 apprentices from around the country as they got stuck into some testing challenges. The ideas they generated were impressive and it was difficult with so much talent to identify this year’s winners. It has also been great to continue our collaboration with the East of England LGA in delivering this event and we are very grateful to the Local Government Association for their ongoing support and sponsorship.”