The Public Sector is a huge employer and Local Government organisations provide education, housing, social and community services, environmental health and and much more. Councils therefore offer a large number of diverse job vacancies covering all areas of the UK including the North East of England, Yorkshire, Cumbria, County Durham etc.
Most of the services councils provide affect all of us, and can have a major impact on peoples’ lives. The collection of your household rubbish, the school your children go to, care for elderly or disadvantaged family members, hygiene in local restaurants, services from your library, the leisure centre you keep fit in and the development of housing all come under the responsibility of the council. No other service provider or employer plays such a pivotal role in the community – a job that really does make a difference to the way we all live.
Council jobs
The key service areas of councils’ include human resource, finance, IT, education, emergency, environmental, leisure, property and social services, which means that whatever your background, education or work experience there is probably a job that will suit you with your local council.
The different types of council
There are different types of council including county councils, district councils, London borough councils, metropolitan councils, English, Scottish and Welsh unitary councils and district councils in Northern Ireland. In primarily urban areas metropolitan and unitary councils provide all local council services. In other, mostly rural areas, responsibilities for service provision are split between county councils and district councils. So wherever you live there will be at least one local government employer close by who has a range of job vacancies.
Local government careers
Local government employs over two million people and is one of the largest employers in the UK. The range of job opportunities within local government is huge, covering everything from unskilled work through to professions in areas such as teaching, architecture, finance, HR and social work. Working for such a large employer that is located UK-wide means that the opportunities for career progression are great. You’ll also find that as employers the councils embrace social issues such as work-life balance, diversity and lifelong learning. This means you will find flexible working, guaranteed interview schemes for the disabled, ongoing training and development plus a range of excellent benefits from pensions to childcare.