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Here's an uncomfortable truth: local government cannot solve its finance recruitment problem by endlessly recruiting from other councils.For too long, the sector has behaved as though the answer to skills shortages is finding someone else's experienced accountant and persuading them to move. All that does is shuffle vacancies around the system while pushing up costs and deepening our reliance on expensive temporary staff.If local government is serious about its long-term sustainability, it needs to get serious about training and retaining finance professionals.At Southwark, growing our own talent is not a nice-to-have. It is an operational and financial necessity.There has rarely been a better time to make the case for local government finance. The graduate jobs market is tougher than it was a few years ago, many sectors are recruiting less and AI is creating uncertainty around some entry-level roles. Against that backdrop, local government can offer a professional qualification, genuine responsibility, job security and the chance to make a tangible difference to people's lives.We need to show that local government is ambitious, modern and willing to back young people early in their careers.Local government also offers a breadth of experience that is hard to find elsewhere. Within a short space of time, a trainee accountant might work across housing, social care, schools, regeneration, climate programmes and major capital investment projects. They gain exposure not just to finance, but to politics, public policy and decision-making at the highest levels of an organisation.That is why we have invested heavily in talent pathways. Earlier this year, Southwark hosted Project Future Finance, bringing together trainees and finance leaders from across local government. It was massively oversubscribed.One piece of feedback stood out. Trainees from other councils repeatedly asked whether Southwark's senior leaders were always so visible and accessible.My desk sits in the middle of the finance team, not behind a closed office door. Development does not happen once a year through an appraisal form. It happens every day through conversations, challenge and exposure to senior decision-makers.In recent years, London boroughs have partnered with the Local Government Association to create the Impact Finance scheme to promote finance roles across the capital and to improve the quality and diversity of the candidates we are bringing into the sector.Recruitment, though, is only half the challenge. Retention is harder. The biggest retention challenge is pay.Local government likes to talk about wellbeing, culture and purpose. All those things matter. But if a newly-qualified accountant cannot plan to one day buy a home, start a family or build an independent life, they will eventually leave. We should stop pretending otherwise.For many young professionals building a life in London, the choices are stark: secure promotion quickly, leave for a higher-paying sector or leave London altogether. If we want to retain talented people, we must acknowledge that competitive pay matters.That means accepting another uncomfortable truth: talented people often need opportunities earlier than previous generations did.Sometimes that means promoting people before they are the finished article. I think that is often the right call.The question is not whether someone can already do 100% of the role. It is whether they have the potential to grow into it. But that only works if it is backed by proper support, mentoring, coaching and visible leadership. If we are going to back people, we need to trust them with genuine responsibility, not just the tasks nobody else wants.This is not just about graduates. The same principles apply to experienced and longstanding staff.Hybrid working suits many experienced professionals because our networks, credibility and relationships are already established. For trainees, I am far less convinced.Much of what makes a good local government finance professional is learned outside of formal training: over coffee, walking back from a committee meeting, or joining the conversation after the formal meeting has ended.A Teams call can teach process. It cannot teach judgement, influence or organisational awareness. Those things are learned by being around people. And that only works if experienced colleagues are in the office too, passing on knowledge and sharing the lessons they have accumulated over years of public service.The financial pressures on local government are real and every vacancy is scrutinised. But failing to invest in finance professionals is not a saving – it is storing up a bigger problem for later.We need to be developing the finance leaders of the future now. There is no better investment a council can make.Tim Jones is director of finance at Southwark LBC

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RECRUITMENT

Stop chasing talent – grow it!

By Tim Jones | 15 July 2026

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