Councils urged to sign up to flagship training programme to find new talent.
The National Graduate Development Programme (also known as the NGDP) is the LGA’s flagship management trainee programme and is the only national graduate programme specifically designed for local government.
It offers councils a unique opportunity to grow their own leaders of the future.
Every year, the NGDP provides the sector with high-quality graduates ready to work on strategic projects that contribute to the delivery of your council’s goals. The NGDP acts as an opportunity for talented graduates to
fast-track their local government career and gives councils the opportunity to nurture and develop their own talent.
How does the NGDP work?
By signing up to the NGDP, councils can access a pool of talented, dedicated graduates to help solve local issues and deliver the vital services on which residents rely.
Councils are able to choose and employ suitable graduates, who will then undertake a minimum of three placements in different areas across the council. Graduates, who are available to be picked, will have gone through a rigorous assessment process, ensuring councils get access to only the best candidates.
“The NGDP recruitment process is really helpful for councils…you can be confident that, at the final interview stage, you’re speaking with some really great individuals”
– Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council
Alongside employment, the LGA provides a prestigious complementary learning and development offer to help graduates implement their learning while working on real projects.
At the end of the two-year programme, those taking part will have developed a range of skills across a variety of services and will be ready to tackle any challenge.
Why choose the NGDP?
The NGDP is flexible to councils, making it easy to shape the programme in a way that both meets their needs and provides a brilliant experience for graduates.
The programme helps councils to develop talent within the existing workforce, recruit talented graduates from the local area who may have otherwise moved away, fill gaps in key parts of the organisation and, most importantly, helps recruit for the future.
“They’ve brought enthusiasm and great ideas for our services. By picking very different people in the first two years we’ve been able to give them the widest exposure across the council”
– Horsham District Council
Now approaching its 20th anniversary, the NGDP has been key, year in, year out, in supporting local government to find the next generation of talent and has recently been recognised, reaching number 50 in The Times Top 100 graduate employers list.
How to get involved
Councils have until 31 March to sign up to the NGDP. We are encouraging councils that are interested to have an initial chat with the team before going through the sign-up process to ensure the NGDP is suited to your council. You can email the team at [email protected] or visit our website for more information.
“The programme has offered us an opportunity to re-engage and an opportunity for graduates to fast-track their career within local government, fill gaps in key parts of the organisation and recruit talented graduates, including from the local area”
– Sheffield City Council