The Mayor's Innovation Prize Terms and Conditions

If you are preparing an idea to submit for the Mayor's Innovation Prize, please ensure you have read, and agree to the following terms and conditions. There is a tick box on the application form you need to select to indicate you have read and agree to the terms and conditions.

Terms and conditions

Eligibility and skill criteria

Entry to the Mayor’s innovation prize is free of charge.

The prize is open to anyone aged 16-26 who lives, works or studies in West Yorkshire.

Applicants must be aged 16-26 on the 22nd January 2023.

Applicants can enter on their own, or as part of a team of up to 5 people.

An applicant may only be a member of one team.

There will be three age groups for judging: 16-18, 19-21 and 22-26 years old.

A team will be entered in the age category of its oldest team member.

How we will use your data, including data sharing

TPXimpact ('data controller') will collect and process data through your application to process your competition entry (and fulfill our contract with you). TPXimpact will use the data to ensure the fair running of the prize, and to understand the diversity of applicants. TPXimpact will share data with West Yorkshire Combined Authority (the other 'data controller') for purposes of prize communication and awards.

Contact details will be used to communicate with you in relation to the competition only.

All personal data will be removed from our systems within 6 months of the competition ending and all final monies being awarded.

Further information can be found in the online privacy notices for West Yorkshire Combined Authority and TPXimpact.

Competition duration including opening and closing date

The competition opens on 10 November 2022. Applications can be submitted until midnight 22 January 2023. Applicants who progress to the next stage will be announced week commencing 30 January 2023.

The competition is split into two phases:

- Phase 1: teams and individuals submit ideas. These ideas will be assessed against a set criteria (below).

- Phase 2: Shortlisted teams/individuals (5 from each age category) will go through to the second stage where they will attend ‘bootcamp’ sessions, in which they will receive support in developing their idea further.

Participants that progress to the next stage will need to attend up to 4 days of workshops spread over February and March, some in person and some online.

Shortlisted participants will be made aware of these dates the week commencing 30 January (when informed their submission has been successful). These dates will be confirmed before applicants progress to the next stage.

Ideas must be presented at the final award ceremony which will take place in late March late March.

A winning individual or team will be selected from each age category and there will also be an additional prize across all categories.

In the event of a tie the money will be divided.

How the prize(s) can be claimed

Funds will be paid into the named bank account provided by the individual or the winning team captain* via electronic funds transfer.

Restrictions and conditions:
Challenge prizes are mechanisms for advancing innovation. Funds should be used for developing your idea into a business or advancing your thinking around the topic. Therefore:

  • £500 winners will receive the full amount into their nominated bank accounts within 1 week of being declared a winner.
  • £1500 winners will receive the full amount into their nominated bank accounts within 1 week of being declared a winner. By accepting funds, £1500 winners agree to produce a blog for the West Yorkshire Combined Authority months after receiving funds which describes how the idea has advanced.
  • £5000 prize winner** will receive £2000 into their nominated bank accounts within 1 week of being declared a winner. Winners of the £5000 prize will be assigned a mentor who’ll meet with the winning individual or team once a month to support them to bring their idea to life and create a business. The outstanding £3000 will be added to the winners nominated bank account in payments of £1000 once the individual or team have attended 3 mentoring sessions. By accepting the funds, winning participants agree to produce a blog for the West Yorkshire Combined Authority 6 months after receiving funds which describes how the idea has advanced.

*West Yorkshire Combined Authority plays no role in how the funds are divided up across a winning team. That is the responsibility of the team members.

**in the event of a draw for the £5000 prize, winning teams will receive £1500 into their nominated bank account within a week of being declared a winner, and the following £1000 after successfully attending 3 mentoring sessions.

What happens if a winner cannot claim the prize

If the winning team or individual cannot claim their prize (in the event of illness, death, or reasons of fraud or plagiarism) the prize will go to the individual or team with the next highest score. 

How a winner is determined

All individuals and teams who submit an application to the Mayors Innovation Prize will be judged under the conditions outlined in the judging criteria rubric below. Each group will receive points for their application. The top five scorers in each of the three age categories will go through to the second stage.

In the event more than five teams/individuals share the top five scores in a their age category, each of the tied scores will be reviewed comparatively by TPXimpact staff, who will re-evaluate the tied applications based on qualitative factors (outlined in the judging rubric) - their decision will be final. 

The individuals or teams who progress to the second stage of the prize will be judged under the conditions outlined in the final judging criteria rubric below. 
A winning team will be selected from each age category and there will also be an additional prize across all categories.

£1500 prize will be awarded to the winner of each age category. An additional prize of £5000 will be awarded across all categories for the project which shows the greatest potential to develop into a viable business.

Finally a £500 prize will be awarded to a team/individual who has best communicated their learning outcomes from taking part in the prize.

In the event of a tie the money will be divided. 

Plagiarism is prohibited. Entries must be the original work of the applicants. Where applicants have collaborated closely with a company, the entry must clearly indicate how the company has supported the team.

By entering this competition you are agreeing to the condition that you will attend the final Awards Ceremony and present if selected.

By entering the competition entrants will be deemed to have agreed to be bound by these terms and conditions

Entrants must have the consent of a parent or guardian if under 18 to enter the competition.

The Mayor’s Innovation prize - judging criteria

Criteria 1-4 will be used to judge entries in the first phase of the prize.

Criteria 1-8 will be used for final judging.

1. Problem

Communicates the problem and how it affects West Yorkshire

Includes credible research or data to evidence the problem

 

Communicates the problem in an unclear way

 

No research or data is shown 

Communicates the problem in a somewhat clear way

Some research or data is shown

Communicates the problem clearly

 

Good amount of research or data is shown

2. Idea

Effectively explains how idea works and how it addresses the problem

 

Has identified a user/customer and how solution meets their needs

Idea difficult to understand

Solution does not address the problem

 

Has not identified a user

Solution does not meet their needs

 

 

Idea is somewhat clear

Solution somewhat addresses the problem

Has somewhat identified a user

Solution somewhat addresses their needs

Idea is clearly communicated

Solution addresses the problem

 

Has identified user

Solution addresses the needs of the user/ customer

3. Impact

Explains the impact or change their idea will bring about

The potential impact of the idea is unclear

The potential impact of the idea is somewhat clear

The potential impact of the idea is clear

4. Innovation

Effectively shows how their idea is unique, and different from what already exists in the market

 

Does not show how idea is unique

Somewhat shows how idea is unique

Shows how idea is unique

5. Prototype and test

Successfully produced a model or illustration of their solution and tested it with users

Did not produce a model or illustration

No evidence of testing with users

Produced a model or illustration

Some evidence of testing with users

Produced a high-quality model or illustration

Evidence of testing with users

 

6. Business

Solution is successfully presented as a viable business option

Did not produce a business model

Produced a business model (information is somewhat clear)

Produced a clear business model

 

7. Implementation

Has considered the factors for implementation of their solution *

Factors not considered

Not stated how prize money would support implementation

 

Factors somewhat considered

Somewhat stated, how prize money would support implementation

Factors successfully considered

Clearly stated how prize money would support implementation

 

 

8. Learning

Clearly communicates what they learned through taking part in the prize

Does not clearly communicate their learning journey

Shows no understanding of the innovation process

Shows no understanding of the climate crisis

Somewhat communicates their learning journey

Shows some understanding of the innovation process

Shows some understanding of the climate crisis

Clearly communicates their learning journey

Shows a clear understanding of the innovation process

Shows understanding of the climate crisis

 

* Factors for implementation will be covered in Jan - March bootcamps