At a national level, we know the local government workforce is navigating a period of significant change, shaped by a range of long-standing challenges that have built up over recent decades. The sector has been facing what many might describe as a workforce cliff edge for some time and recent developments mean the need for action is more immediate than ever before.
We know that much of the workforce is ageing and with it comes the loss of experience and institutional knowledge. While the sector continues to benefit from talented and capable professionals who may have the skills, the depth of experience traditionally needed to confidently fill many senior positions is increasingly becoming scarce. This presents a particular challenge for statutory roles. Whether it's a section 151 officer, a monitoring officer, a director of adult social services (DASS) or a director of children's services (DCS), demand for experienced leaders has long since outpaced supply.
While succession planning has often been talked about, there is now an urgent need to translate ambition into consistent, co-ordinated action with real follow-through. Equally there remains significant scope to strengthen representation within the workforce. We know that global majority representation across the local government workforce remains well below where it should be, and while progress is being made, Solace's own recently published Equity is the Work report and previous Understanding and Enhancing Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion in the UK's Local Government Workforce report from 2023 highlight how inconsistent the sector's approach has been and the wider consequences that can lead to.
Sufficient investment in leadership development is going to be crucial in readying the leaders of the future. This has not been helped by the de-layering of management structures. More traditional stepping stone opportunities for staff to experience a measured and gradual increase in responsibility have more or less disappeared over time. The result is that we often expect technically strong experts to elevate into leadership positions of considerable breadth and complexity virtually overnight.
There is also an important upstream opportunity around introducing fresh talent into local government as a career choice in the first place. Despite the extraordinary variety, purpose and impact of careers within the sector, unfortunately the profile and reputation of local government as an employer of choice often remains a challenge in itself. The sector too often remains misunderstood, with public perception focusing on a small number of highly visible services overlooking the fact that there are more than 800 different career paths on offer and they all play a vital role in shaping communities. This is why award-winning campaigns such as the ‘Make a Difference, Work for Your Local Council' – funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and delivered by the Local Government Association in partnership with Solace – are so important.
Our elected representatives also have a vital role to play in the joint responsibility of shaping the profile and reputation of local government. Through positive leadership and maintaining professional standards, they can help reinforce the efforts to champion a life of public service. Unfortunately, it is often examples of the opposite behaviour that generates the most clicks on social media.
With the second series of announcements for local government reorganisation now made, we know there are going to be considerably more unitary councils created than most observers would have anticipated. As of July, we know that 52 new unitaries have been announced since the Devolution White Paper was released in December 2024, with 188 councils due to be abolished, meaning a net reduction of 136 councils. The arithmetic suggests we are therefore going to see even fewer candidates coming forward with the depth of experience ordinarily expected, for a much larger range of roles – particularly in the social care space.
There isn't a single solution to this challenge and there aren't many quick fixes either, which is why a coordinated response will be key. In the short term, it is clear there will be candidates appointed to roles that may have the requisite skills but certainly do not have the depth of experience we would ordinarily expect to see. However, they will bring fresh energy, perspectives and capability and our challenge as a sector is to ensure they receive the correct support to succeed.
For some time, Solace has been lobbying central government to encourage the introduction of a national workforce strategy for the sector – intended to identify and address the challenges we face. While a national strategy in place would be a welcome step forward, the greater impact would naturally be realised over the longer term.
Immediate, real-time interventions to support people in new senior roles will be more important than ever. As a sector, we may need to encourage those who have retired or otherwise left the sector to re-engage and offer to share their knowledge, experience and expertise with their successors.
For our current leaders, now is the time to ensure your workforce is best equipped for the future. Take the opportunity to help support your current staff to expand their experience base now – it's not the time to hesitate. Secondments and informal knowledge sharing opportunities, such as job shadowing, provide exposure to fresh situations and experiences, in turn building confidence and skills required to face the requirements of their new roles.
There is also a need for understanding among those on appointment panels that they may not be seeing the depth of experience they would ideally be looking for in their candidates. There will be risks to proactively mitigate, by way of a robust development plan for new appointees, with effective coaching and mentoring support to give them the best chance to succeed. This will need to be done from an informed perspective, making effective assessment during recruitment processes all the more important, with that insight informing a tailored development plan that maximises long term success.
While the challenges are significant, they are by no means insurmountable and with a range of targeted long- and short-term interventions, we may yet be able to avoid that cliff edge after all and instead simply capitalise on the opportunities coming over the horizon.
Nicola Chiverton and Steve Guest are Directors for Solace in Business
