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Working in local government has long been associated with poor pay, miniscule budgets, outdated facilities and an ocean of pointless bureaucracy.
But that image does it a disservice. Despite fears that the recent Gershon review and drive for greater efficiencies would further tighten the belts of councils, it has had some other, more positive, effects. Councils are now looking to learn lessons from the private sector to help improve their performance and effectiveness. They are also looking to bring in people with private sector experience to help, meaning there are plenty of opportunities for anyone looking to move into the public sector. Doing so could well provide you with opportunities you may not otherwise experience.
Neil Lazenbury, director in government services at Ernst & Young, says local government can be a career-enhancing opportunity. 'Anybody looking for a career move, particularly younger individuals at the outset of their career, should get involved in anything that is truly transformational,' he suggests. 'Not many people have had the experience of setting strategy, designing, implementing, sustaining and measuring a shared services implementation,' he adds. 'Careers where there is transformation are the best places to learn your trade.' Mark Robinson, a local government specialist at recruitment consultancy Hays, has seen the growth in demand for project finance managers to ensure a holistic view of the changes.
'We are seeing roles for people who work across the whole authority - someone who understands the national agenda for local government, the regional strategy, corporate strategy for an organisation and different departmental strategies,' he says.
Robinson says that local councils have often seen low levels of responses to recruitment adverts for finance staff, but believes this could be a result of not casting the net widely enough. And there is the added issue of the age profile of existing staff, as cutbacks in training budgets during the 1990s have hindered the rise of 'new blood' from within local government.
However, anyone considering a move into local government because of a perceived improvement in their work/life balance may be disappointed. Life is unlikely to be quiet for the finance professionals in local government, as often it is finance staff who are driving the changes rather than responding to demands from their senior executives.
And a move to local government doesn't mean ruling out the private sector for the rest of your career either, even if you've trained as a CIPFA accountant.
Suzanne MacDonald, a central services accountant at Aberdeenshire Council, says: 'CIPFA gives a good grounding to go into finance management, so if a role like that cropped up that suited me in the private sector, my skills are definitely transferable.'
England local authorities
Capital expenditure in 2006-07 was estimated at £316.3bn, down 2% on the previous year. Capital receipts were down 3% to £3.7bn.
SPENDING (2006-07):
Education: 21%
Transport: 21%
Housing: 28%
Social services: 2%
Sport & recreation: 3%
Police: 3%
Other: 22%
IFRS and the public sector
Like its private sector counterparts two years ago, local government is preparing to move to a new system of accounting based on international financial reporting standards. Fortunately, they have the experience of the mistakes that the corporates made in 2005 to fall back on to help smooth the transition. It also means they will be looking to grab hold of people with good IFRS experience from that time, and are likely to pay handsomely for it.
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