Several thousand local government IT jobs were created over the past few years to cope with the push to get local authority services online.

But the recruitment frenzy came to an abrupt end after the government deadline requiring all council services to be available on the web was reached.

The 2005 deadline brought the end of additional central government funding. Local authorities have been laying off consultants and contract staff ever since, while imposing a recruitment freeze at all other staff levels.

Councils employed 29,000 IT staff in 2007, according to local authority user group Society of IT Management (Socitm).

About three-quarters were deployed in central IT departments, 15 per cent in other departments, such as education or social services, and eight per cent were employed through consultancies or contracted services.

When the private sector is doing well, public sector employers usually find it more difficult to recruit and retain staff. But the opposite is also true, and the public sector boom of recent years coincided with a period of retrenchment in the IT industry.

As the IT sector has become more buoyant over the past 12 to 18 months, local authorities are starting to report a growing problem of skills shortages. As many as half of all councils reported such shortages in Socitm’s annual salary survey for 2006.

And the fact that IT positions in the public sector pay less than in private industry does not help when trying to fill the recruitment gap.

The 2007 survey also found that on average local government IT directors earn only about two-thirds of what their industry counterparts are paid.

For an IT manager the public sector salary is 85 per cent of the industry average, while the figure for a team leader is 71 per cent.

Day rates vary for each region; for example, comparisons show salaries for lower grades are typically 80 to 90 per cent of private sector salaries.

Overall wages are rising more slowly than in recent years. They were up by 3.6 per cent in the year to May 2007, compared with 5.5 per cent in 2002.

Bonus payments are becoming more common, with 9.4 per cent of employees receiving bonuses in 2007, compared with 2.5 per cent in the past five years. Such bonuses are just another factor employees must consider when reviewing a whole job package rather then simply focusing on salary.

IT professionals must also examine the benefits when switching to local government. Even when public sector salaries are lower than elsewhere, the overall package ­ including pensions and opportunities for flexible working ­ is generally very attractive.

Local government’s commitment to training and development is another reason why the public sector can be a good option for IT professionals wanting to further their careers.

The 2000 government initiative to get local authorities online has provided many rewarding opportunities for technology workers. And the drive to get 100 per cent of council services online by December 2005 created the funding for a very wide range of projects.

With the successful implementation of the government’s online programme, the emphasis has turned to efficiency, with IT as a principal facilitator.

There is growing recognition in the public sector of how IT programmes can improve services and increase efficiency.

With some very hard targets already set for efficiency, and much tighter financial settlements expected in the wake of the Comprehensive Spending Review, there is a major opportunity for IT to really show what it can deliver for local government.

However, this opportunity is also a challenge, and there are fears in some quarters that expectations of efficiency gains are too high. Factors beyond the control of IT managers can sometimes cause technology programmes to deliver less than was promised.

If local authority IT leaders wish to exploit the increasingly critical role of IT as a means to claim a seat at the top table, they will need to raise their heads from the task of delivering day-to-day services and demonstrate their ability to harness technology to fulfil what the business needs.

This will involve developing the communication skills needed to persuade their business colleagues of the strategic potential of IT.

Stewart Jackson is programme manager for membership services at Socitm

Five good reasons to work in local government

1. Impact: Local government is responsible for delivering 80 per cent of government services to the public, from refuse collection to childcare provision. Online availability makes IT a crucial factor in the delivery of efficient, high-quality services.
2. Importance: Local government is under significant pressure to deliver cost-effective services. Chief executives are increasingly recognising the need to use IT to create efficiencies in service delivery and back-office functions.
3. Making a difference: Effective IT deployment by local authorities can deliver major social benefits to some of society’s most vulnerable people. For example, a range of technologies is being used to help the elderly stay longer in their own homes.
4. Benefits: Although pay is generally below that available in the private sector, pensions are secure and there is good commitment to initiatives such as job sharing and flexible working that affect the quality of employees’ life. Commitment to training and development is also strong.
5. Variety: With 780 online services available to the public as well as the service to internal users, there is a huge variety in the project work open to IT staff in local government.