Making a difference for residents
As first was going to press, the LGA was launching its latest national recruitment campaign for councils in England.
‘Make a difference, work for your local council’, funded by the UK Government, shines a spotlight on the brilliant opportunities for people to grow their careers in local government, and is running for six weeks up to mid-February.
We all know our hard-working staff in local government make a positive impact on people’s lives in our communities, have a wide variety of jobs to choose from (more than 800), and benefit from training and development opportunities, and flexible, inclusive working practices.
However, in a recent survey, 94 per cent of councils said they were experiencing recruitment and retention difficulties. At the same time, demand for services is rising, highlighting the vital need to attract more people into the workforce.
The ‘Make a difference, work for your local council’ campaign delivers the transformative impact of a career in local government – and how it gives people the power to change their lives in a way that can also have an impact on their communities.
The campaign was first piloted in North East England in 2023-24, before its first national roll-out in 2024-25. It was developed in collaboration with councils, regional employer organisations, and expert creative, media and research partners.
In the first two years of the campaign, we’ve already seen the impact it can achieve.
External evaluations have shown an increase in views and applications for jobs, and those who had seen the campaign had a significantly more positive impression of their local council.
More than two-thirds of councils downloaded the campaign toolkit, and many felt the campaign supported their recruitment efforts.
The campaign is award winning, having received two national awards for ‘Best Innovation in Recruitment’ (LGC Workforce Awards 2024) and ‘Best Partnership/Collaboration’ (PPMA Excellence in People Management Awards 2025).
This year’s campaign will be advertised in all regions in England, using the most engaging media channels for our target audience – including outdoor billboards, radio, social media, podcast adverts, popular websites, and much more.
There are many new, exciting additions to this year’s campaign, including:
- videos of real council employees talking about their jobs in legal and governance, and digital and IT
- a focus on early careers, to engage young people and demonstrate the routes into local government, which was recently piloted in the West Midlands.
We are asking all councils to use the updated campaign toolkit as part of their recruitment activity, to enhance the national reach of the campaign.
This will help us to encourage more people to consider working in local government and build positive public perceptions of our sector.
The toolkit contains all the campaign materials, which are ready-to-use on your council’s communications channels.
Whether you plan to share one of the assets on your social media, display a poster in your local library, or use the campaign logo on your recruitment adverts – your support is really appreciated, and will help to make a difference.
- Find out more about ‘Making a difference’ and access the campaign toolkit.