Best Council to Work For 2008
The IDeA, Local Government Employers (LGE), Best Companies Ltd, and media partner The Times, have announced the Best Council to Work For list 2008. The initiative, in its second year, has seen an increased number of entrants, as well as improved performance among the top five councils across all of the assessment factors.
Best Council to Work For shines a spotlight on good council employers and what they do to get the best out of their people. Voted for by those who work there, Best Council to Work For shows how people really feel about where they work.
So, what makes a Best Council to Work For?
A combination of inspiring leadership, flexible working opportunities, good benefits, excellent training and development and a range of programmes to encourage the health and well being of staff.
And who are the Best Councils to Work For 2008?
1. Wychavon District Council
2. Chorley Council
3. Broadland District Council
4. Castle Morpeth Borough Council
5. Epsom & Ewell Borough Council
6. Test Valley Borough Council
7. Castle Point Borough Council
8. South Norfolk Council
9. Blyth Valley Borough Council
10. East Hampshire District Council
11. South Oxfordshire District Council
12. Aberdeenshire Council
13. Chiltern District Council
14. Rother District Council
15. Waverley Borough Council
16. Eden District Council
17. Runnymede Borough Council
18. East Northamptonshire Council
19. Malvern Hills District Council
20. West Oxfordshire District Council
21. Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames
22. Warwick District Council
23. Aylesbury Vale District Council
24. North Lincolnshire Council
25. Stratford District Council
Read more about the Best Councils to Work For at The Times online.
Find out more about the benefits of working for local government in our “why work for local government?” section.
Posted: September 23rd, 2008 under careers, jobs, talent.
Historic Environment Trainee Scheme
English Heritage launches new trainee scheme for graduates in archaeology, history, conservation, planning, urban design or environmental sciences, and/or those who have substantial practical work experience in a heritage discipline (such as archaeology, specialist planning or buildings’ history).
The new initiative is for historic environment practitioners – the Historic Environment Traineeship (HET) Scheme. Up to 10 two-year professional work placements will be available under the Scheme which will provide work-experience training in the application of professional conservation management skills in a planning and development context. Placements will be provided, supervised, administered and validated by English Heritage.
Although not a direct council traineeship, this scheme will include close partnership with with local councils and later on may include placements working in councils.
Further information about the Scheme and information on how to apply is available at www.english-heritage.org.uk/jobs under the Traineeships menu.
Read more about conservation related careers in local government:
Read Louise’s employee profile about working as a conservation administrator in local government.
Posted: July 3rd, 2008 under careers, jobs, talent.
What does your council do for you?
Do you know what your council does for you?
An information campaign to tell people about everything their council does for them is to be launched this week, in a bid to boost the reputation of town halls.
The ‘My Council’ campaign, being launched by the Local Government Association (LGA) at its Annual Conference in Bournemouth, will encourage councils, through a series of posters, to tell people about the vast range of services that their council tax pays for.
Sir Simon Milton, Chair of the LGA, said, “Most people just think that the council collects the bins and they haven’t the faintest clue of the vast range of services that town halls provide. From archaeology to zoology, from cradle to grave, councils provide over 800 services to improve people’s lives and help them get safe and sound through the day.”
To read the full article go to the LGA Media Centre.
To read more about the wide variety of services provided by your council, go to our “what is local government?” pages.
To read more about the huge range of jobs you could do in local government, go to our career descriptions.
Posted: June 30th, 2008 under careers, jobs, talent.
A day in the life of a Chief Executive
In a new series reported in Local Government First online, Chief Executive of Trafford Council, David McNulty, pays the first of a number of visits to some of the council’s essential, but often less visible services. Recently he spent the day at Dunham Massey crematorium and cemetery intending to find out about the hugely valuable work that the council’s 25 bereavement services workers carry out every day.
After a hard few hours work with the gravediggers and a new insight into what happens behind the scenes to ensure burials and cremations are carried out with respect and dignity, Mr McNulty admits he, “came away with an even greater admiration of the work done” and believes it shows the council’s “customer care at its best”.
To read the full story of a day in the life of a chief executive, go to Local Government First online.
Use the following links to read more about the role and duties of:
Posted: June 20th, 2008 under careers, jobs, talent.
The public sector - an employer of choice
GTI’s 2008 employer of choice survey for the public sector uses data gathered from over 4500 students and graduates who stated that the public sector was one of the areas, in which they were interested in working.
Some general trends showed that graduates wishing to work in the public sector were:
As a large recruiter in the public sector, local government, with over 2 million employees, is keen to attract people from a diverse range of backgrounds, with many different skills and experiences. If you’ve never thought about working for local government, think again! There are over 600 occupational groups to choose from, such as finance, IT, marketing, research, policy development, environmental health, social work, planning and much much more.
To find out more about the kind of careers on offer in local government, visit the career descriptions section.
To search for current job vacancies in local government, visit our jobs website.
To find out more about the national graduate development programme for local government, visit the ngdp website.
To register with the local government talent pool for graduates, visit the talent pool website.
To read the GTI employer of choice surveys in full, visit the GTI website.
Posted: June 17th, 2008 under careers, jobs, talent.
Unsung heros - environmental health officers
As reported in the Independent at the weekend, restaurants run by some of the country’s largest food chains are failing to meet basic hygiene standards.
Environmental health officers in local government play a vital role in highlighting these failures to comply with the law. They inspect all food outlets every two years and support restaurants to improve standards and in some cases, as a last resort, close them down.
The work of an environmental health officer in local government helps to prevent the spread of food borne illnesses such as e-coli and salmonella and contributes to the well being of the whole community.
Read more about becoming an environmental health officer here.
Read more about working in food safety here.
Check out the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health’s careers website.
Posted: June 16th, 2008 under careers, jobs, talent.
Career of the month - environmental health officer
Environmental health in local government is all about improving people’s quality of life and making sure they are able to live, work and play in safe, healthy environments. Local government environmental health officers/practitioners are involved in a wide range of activities covering food safety, public health, occupational health, housing and environmental protection.
Read more about working as an environmental health officer in local government.
Check out the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health’s careers website.
Posted: June 9th, 2008 under careers, jobs, talent.
National Food Safety Week 9-13 June
The annual national Food Safety Week is the point in the calendar for highlighting the importance of food safety and the basic principles of food hygiene.
Led by the Food Standards Agency, along with a range of other partners, the theme of this year’s campaign is “Germ-watch”. The idea is to raise awareness of good food safety practice, including the use of the “4Cs”:
The Food Standards Agency is encouraging organisations to run events this week to raise awareness of food safety issues. You can download resources on the Foodlink website.
Local councils do lots of work to raise awareness of food safety, prevent poor food safety standards make sure that businesses follow food hygiene rules. Read more about the kind of work you could do working as a technical officer in food safety.
Posted: June 9th, 2008 under careers, jobs, talent.
Adult Learners’ Week 17-23 May 2008
Adult Learners’ Week is the UK’s largest and longest running learning campaign. Held each May, it encourages thousands of adults, whatever their age and background, to give learning a go: whether it’s learning for pleasure, catching up on skills missed out on at school or getting that new job or promotion.
Adult Learners’ Week is all about celebrating and raising awareness of the fact that we all learn everyday often without realising it. And that taking the next step and going on a course needn’t be like going back to school.
Whether you want to gain new skills or qualifications to get a promotion at work, or want to learn more about a subject you’re interested in, adult learning could be the ideal solution.
There are almost a million courses available in the UK, so there’s bound to be one to suit your needs.
What to do next….
Visit the Adult Learners’ Week Learners’ Zone for more information.
Visit the Learn Direct website for advice and guidance - www.learndirect-advice.co.uk
Find out more about career opportunities in local government in our career descriptions section. And hear what current employees think about where they work in our meet the employees section.
Posted: May 6th, 2008 under careers, jobs, talent.
Career of the month - solicitor
Many services in local government involve daily contact with the law, and councils need frequent legal advice. Solicitors advise both elected council members and senior officers on a wide range of topics from employment to land purchase, through to prosecution of rogue traders and suppliers.
Solicitors need to be excellent communicators, with good writing skills and an eye for detail. They also need dedication and commitment, as it takes time to train and qualify. However, this is rewarded by interesting and challenging work. Nathalie is a solicitor at Nottinghamshire County Council, she says, “I like the variety of work. I love the flexibility of working for a local council and have been involved in a number of high profile cases.”
Read more about Nathalie’s work as a solicitor in local government.
Read our legal services career descriptions:
Visit the Junior Lawyers website for more information about becoming a solicitor and the Solicitors in Local Government careers brochure http://juniorlawyers.lawsociety.org.uk/career