The Local Government Channel and Local Government Association (LGA) today announced the six finalists of the first ever Employee of the Year Award for public sector workers in England and Wales.
Eager to raise awareness and celebrate the hard work of frontline local government employees, the search to find the unsung hero of 2006 generated a great deal of interest from councils large and small. Having chaired the judging panel to determine the finalists, Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, Chairman of the LGA, said: We were really impressed with both the number of applications that we received and the calibre of the people being put forward by their colleagues. It was therefore very difficult to select only six but Iím confident that weíve found the employees that have best demonstrated their ability to go above and beyond the call of duty in serving their respective communities.î
The Employee of the Year Award is supported by ex-bin-man turned X Factor star Andy Abraham and, in true X Factor style, the public vote will now determine which of the six finalists will claim the title of public sector hero of 2006.
The Local Government Channel ñ Sky 181 ñ will broadcast films about each of the six finalists from 6.30pm Monday to Friday and at midday on Sunday week commencing 15th May 2006 right up until the LGAís Annual Conference in Bournemouth (4th ñ7th July 2006). In addition, the Community Channel ñ www.communitychannel.org ñ will screen the films on Sky 539/Telewest 233/Freeview 87 (6-9am) and NTL 14 and 511 from 16th May 2006 until the final day of the conference. The films will also be shown online at: www.thelocalgovernmentchannel.com and supporters can vote for their favourite finalist via the internet or by texting LGA followed by the first name of the finalist they wish to vote for to 88600.
Once the votes have been counted, the results will be announced in a special ceremony on the final day of the conference and Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart will present an engraved trophy and a cheque for 500 to the winner.
Enthusing about the award, Andy Abraham said: ìPublic services are vital to communities up and down the country and the role of the people who provide them is often undervalued. Having worked for local government for many years, I can appreciate the value of being recognised in this way.î
Stephen Horn, CEO of hbl media and executive producer of The Local Government Channel, said: ìAlthough the winner has yet to be named, the Employee of the Year Award has already proved to be a success in raising awareness of the hard work carried out by local government workers in the UK, so much so that weíve already made the decision to turn our search for a public sector hero into an annual event. Iíd like to congratulate the six named finalists for this yearís award and wish them the best of luck in the public vote.î
www.thelocalgovernmentchannel.com
www.lga.gov.uk
The Local Government channel LGA name the employee of the year award finalist
.
