Building a resilient, future-ready local government workforce relies on strong pathways for young people entering employment. For councils, investing in early talent will open opportunities to shape the skills, capabilities, and leadership needed to deliver high-quality services for communities.
We are supporting councils to position themselves as employers of choice by offering a diverse range of entry pathways into the sector. From apprenticeships and graduate programmes to work experience and tailored opportunities for care leavers. These routes will enable councils to attract young talented individuals from their community, invest and grow local talent and strengthen employment pipelines.
By councils developing early career pathways, they can address skills gaps, improve workforce diversity and create long-term capacity within their organisations.
Complementing these pathways, LGA has created the National Early Career Network providing a valuable platform for young professionals to connect, share experiences and case studies and shape their ambitions and goals build within local government.
Championing early careers, investing in skills, and creating clear, accessible routes into meaningful public service roles will help councils retain talent within the sector.
Apprenticeships provide people with an opportunity to learn on the job, gaining knowledge and skills and achieving qualifications while earning money. The LGA's apprenticeship support programme aims to help councils maximise the return on investment of their apprenticeship levy.
T Levels are qualifications for students after GCSEs and are equivalent to three A Levels. These two-year courses have been developed in collaboration with employers and businesses, to ensure it meets the needs of all parties. As part of T Levels, students need to complete an industry placement. Councils are working with providers to offer these placement opportunities. Students have already completed placements within digital, planning and construction teams.
The LGA's T Level toolkit provides advice and guidance to councils to support the planning and delivery of T Level industry placements.
Impact: The local government graduate programme
The LGA offers talented graduates a launch pad for a rewarding leadership career in local government. Graduates have the opportunity to apply for Impact, a two-year programme where graduates are placed in councils with the aim of developing their skills to become leaders of the future.
Pathways to Planning
Pathways to Planning offers councils a new and creative way to diversify their planning teams’ talent pipeline. It is intended to build capacity within councils by bringing more graduates into planning teams now and fast-tracking their careers to fill gaps at every level in the future.
Some university courses include a year in industry, which allows undergraduates to spend a year of their studies working within the area of their chosen subject.
Councils may run scholarships which give young people the opportunity to work within local government and provide them with an insight into different roles.
As part of a student’s course, they may be required to complete a work experience placement. This is a great opportunity for your council to work with young people.
The LGA’s work experience plan can support your council in developing work experience projects and activities.
Supported internships are a structured, work-based study programme for 16 to 24-year-olds with special educational needs (SEND), who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan. The core element of a supported internship study programme is a substantial work placement, facilitated by the support of an expert job coach. Some councils offer supported internships as a route into local government. Further information on supported internships can be found on the Department for Education (DfE) website.
The LGA’s Care Leaver Support Programme aims to encourage more councils as employers to provide employment and training opportunities for care leavers.
Consider what other programmes are available to engage with young people and early careers. For example, councils had success in supporting young people with the Kickstart Scheme when it was running.
Early careers toolkit
An early careers strategy is essential for councils looking to engage with young people and education providers, and to raise awareness of the routes into a career in local government. This strategy should fit into a broader recruitment and retention strategy for both current employees and those considering working in local government.
The LGA has created a toolkit to support councils to develop an early careers strategy. The toolkit contains guidance and resources to help councils engage with providers and young people, and promote local government as an attractive career choice.