The judging process for the Heywood Prize is now well underway after we closed the competition on 23 March 2021 (the anniversary of lockdown).
To help us in this immense task, we have recruited almost 90 ‘sifters’ to read through all the entries, making sure that we consider all of the submissions in detail, respecting the efforts that our competitors have made in entering the competition.
We have some fantastic entries. While not wanting to spoil the surprise of the winners, it is worth noting, even at this early stage, what a wide range of ideas we have. These include improving the UK’s productivity, capturing the benefits of online learning, addressing the backlog in court cases, addressing climate issues, eliminating rough sleeping and creating a much better dialogue with government.
It will not be an easy job for our judges to select winners but they have thrown themselves into this task with vigor. We are now close to making some decisions on the first part of the prize and will soon be moving onto the second. Our aim is to be able to select all our winners in time for our prize ceremony in early July.