Published on Friday 20 June 2025
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council has won Senior Leadership Team of the Year in this year’s Municipal Journal (MJ) Local Government Achievement Awards.
The Municipal Journal is an influential publication covering local government and civic administration in the United Kingdom and winning an MJ Award is widely considered to be one of the most prestigious honours within the Local Government sector.
BCP Council, the 10th largest unitary authority in the UK, was also named as a finalist in the Local Authority of the Year, and Chief Executive of the Year award categories.
The authority was also shortlisted in the Leading in Responding to the Climate Emergency and Innovation in Children’s and Adult Services fields.
The Council beat competition from some of the best local authorities in the country, impressing the expert judging panel with ‘true resilience and teamwork’ for ‘creating a new council amid political change all while staying focused on delivering for residents’.
BCP Council Leader, Cllr Millie Earl, said: “This award is real recognition for the remarkable work BCP Council does. despite facing significant and unique challenges. Every day I see the extraordinary lengths our teams go to in serving communities across our three towns.
I love where we live, and our residents deserve high-quality services from a reliable, agile and proficient organisation capable of adapting to their changing, modern-day needs both now and in the future.
My congratulations to the Chief Executive, our Senior Leadership team, Councillors, Cabinet Members and all colleagues. Their dedication, passion and skill has been rightfully recognised through this award and I am grateful for their exceptional contributions.”
Graham Farrant, Chief Executive of BCP Council, said: “I’m proud of the outstanding recognition we have achieved in winning Senior Leadership Team of the Year, having been shortlisted for five individual MJ Achievement Awards this year.
Six years ago this April, our three towns of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole came together in one of the most complex examples of Local Government Reorganisation in the last 40 years, and this award is testament to the hard work of council colleagues, commitment from our members and confidence from our partners.
Since then we've faced a pandemic, financial upheaval and cost-of-living crisis that would increase our challenges, whilst our political landscape has also been complex, featuring eight political groups, three administrations and five council leadership changes since 2019.
But we never shied away from a challenge. Today, we’re a financially stable organisation having achieved over £35 million in savings, our Children’s Services have gone from inadequate to ‘good’, and we have fewer families in temporary accommodation.
We’ve met all the Government’s Best Value Notice’s objectives and are one of the first councils to have it lifted after a year, and we’re meeting the ambitions of our Corporate Strategy, working closely with partners, businesses and residents.
This year, we successfully completed our ambitious Transformation Programme, embedding new systems and processes, and adopting modern digital technologies to drive efficiencies across our departments that enhance the services we provide for residents.
We have an organisational structure built on strong foundations, and are recognised as a forward-thinking, modern council designed to meet the present and future needs of our residents. A council which prioritises people, listens to feedback, and collaborates with partners to utilise our collective strengths.
This award acknowledges the outstanding efforts of all those who dedicate themselves to supporting our place and environment, and people and communities."
For further details, please visit the BCP Council website Welcome to BCP Council | BCP