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Birmingham Brothers Triumph at Young Local Authority of the Year

Brothers Dharmendra Singh, from the Adults and Communities Directorate and Jetendra Singh, from the Development Directorate, have secured victory for Birmingham in the Young Local Authority of the Year competition for the second year running. The team successfully defended the title of Young English Metropolitan Council of the Year, won for Birmingham last year by Catherine Poyner and Paul Lowney, and are the first team in the event’s history to do so.

The Young Local Authority of the Year is a national, public speaking competition, and is part of the wider Young UK and Ireland Programme. The aim of the competition is to contribute to the personal and professional development of local government officers by improving their written and verbal communication skills, as well as enhancing delegates’ research and networking capabilities.

The brothers, who have served the City Council since the tender age of sixteen, were nominated to take part by the council’s early career network, Generation BEST. They were asked to research, write and present an argument on a topical issue to a room full of watchful judges and dozens of competing Councils from around the UK.

The pair chose terrorism as their theme, exploring the history of terrorism around the globe and emphasised the threat by focusing it in a local context. They suggested ways of mitigating the effects, and argued that we all have responsibilities – individuals and agencies alike – to counter the burgeoning trend of terrorism.

The argument had to be strong and effective as the judges were looking for skilful use of language, fluency of expression, maturity of thought and quality of presentation. The judges commented that their paper was a brave and original look at the current debate on anti-terrorism. They also judged the delivery from both team-members to be exceptional, poised and stylish.

In addition, the team competed in an ‘On the Spot’ session, in which they had to ask themselves a question of personal significance and were given just three minutes to answer it. As proud Sikhs they chose to examine the significance of the Turban, but presented the subject in a light-hearted and original way based on a Fry & Laurie comedy sketch. The brothers were able to educate their audience while adopting a tongue-in-cheek approach to the task. The judges were impressed with what they called a witty upper-class duologue and judged it to be ‘faultlessly fluent’.

Speaking after the event Dharmendra said; “I am grateful to Generation BEST Champions Councillor Alan Rudge and Chief Executive Stephen Hughes, and Generation BEST co-ordinators Claire Varley and Bella Jones for having confidence and belief in us to succeed for BCC. Events such as these are much less daunting if you have genuinely supportive colleagues, who are willing to invest in you with the aim of achieving for our Local Authority and City.”

Jetendra added; “It is always a pleasure and privilege to serve Birmingham in any capacity – but to do so at a serious national event and do so successfully has made my brother and me very happy indeed. We both look forward, impatiently, to the next opportunity when we will be able to bring more kudos to BCC.”

To find out more about opportunities available through Generation BEST, contact 675 1545 or email the ‘Generationbest’ mailbox.