The 'go to' organisation for Local Government improvement in Scotland

The workforce is the lifeblood of local government and the most valuable asset the sector possesses. Without our workforce it would be impossible to deliver any of the essential services our communities rely on every day. This means that workforce planning, ensuring we have the right people with the right skills in place, is absolutely essential to local government now and in the future.

In September 2024 a report was published by the Improvement Service, the Society of Personnel and Development (SPDS), and Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE) outlining the current local government workforce and the state of workforce planning across Scottish local authorities. The report reflects findings from a survey of councils, as well as an analysis of workforce data.

So, who works for our councils? Analysis of equalities data showed a workforce that is:

• Predominantly female (74% were female)
• Ageing (29% were aged 55 to 64)
• Not from ethnic minorities (97.5% were white and just 2.5% from ethnic minorities)
• Different from local authority to local authority

The report also includes figures on religion, disability, religion, sexual orientation, and marital status. While we found that some groups were over or underrepresented, this may to some extent reflect the types of jobs available within councils. For example, employees in teaching and social care make up over half of the council workforce and the workforce in both these sectors is predominantly female.

Results from the survey showed that councils are aware of the risks and challenges facing their workforce, such as the ageing profile mentioned above. Additionally, almost all councils have some sort of action plan in place to help address these challenges, often with a long-term focus.

The survey also flagged major challenges in certain sectors. Social care and social work were identified as critical workforce gaps by 97% and 91% of respondents respectively, with severe issues in attracting suitable candidates to fill these positions. In social care, for example, there were over 770 FTE posts vacant across 17 councils who could provide data. There are also gaps in several professional roles, such as trading standards officers, environmental health officers, and planners.

This raises the question of why these roles are so difficult to recruit to. Although each local area will face its own specific challenges, the survey raised some common issues. Firstly, other sectors present competition for employees, with private sector companies often able to pay higher wages. There are also skills shortages, with a lack of suitably qualified candidates in areas like planning. At a more fundamental level, a lack of long-term funding makes it difficult to respond to these challenges. When these issues are combined, it makes recruitment very difficult in certain areas.

While local government faces a number of workforce challenges, we also found that councils are taking steps to proactively respond. These include recruitment campaigns, upskilling and development, undertaking detailed succession planning, and working to identify factors that could lead to improved retention of existing staff. There is also a strong appetite to work collaboratively, for example by working together to engage further and higher education providers.

Throughout the report you will find several examples and case studies of innovative practice. Examples include:

• A bespoke work-based learning degree for Town Planners that is now being taken forward in partnership between Glasgow City Region and the University of the West of Scotland.
• Inverclyde Council’s Workforce Refresh Programme, which opened doors for local young people by offering vacancies created through voluntary early retirements. This approach provided jobs to 94 young people, all of whom were Inverclyde residents.
• Aberdeenshire’s Digital Champions Programme launched in 2019, where over 150 employees received training to become digital champions and support upskilling of colleagues and the community.
• Recruitment campaigns launched by Shetland Islands Council to attract people to live and work in the Islands. The first advertisement for planning officers following the launch of the campaign saw a 100% success rate in the appointment of three planning officer vacancies.

You can read the full report here.