Growing teams prompt IT budget rise amongst London councils

Councils have budgets of millions of pounds to secure skilled IT staff

UK think tank Parliament Street has found that London councils have increased their IT training budgets by more than a third over the last two financial years, due to a rise in IT staff complements.

Budgets among the seven boroughs that responded totalled £121,500 in the last financial year, up from £88,500 in the 2016-17 year: a 37 per cent rise. The Royal London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea had the highest budget, of £38,000: a sharp rise from £6,000. The borough of Waltham also rose from a similar level to £28,000.

14 London councils told Parliament Street that they had taken on more IT staff over the last three financial years, increasing by 16 per cent and reaching the thousands last year.

Hackney and Havering boast the largest IT teams, with 145 staff members each, while Merton had the fewest (24). Hammersmith and Fulham council showed a large increase in its complement of IT workers: from 11 in 2015-16 to 65 in 2017-18.

Together, the councils had a combined IT budget of £155 million. Hammersmith and Fulham boasted the highest budget (£16 million), followed by Haringey (£14 million) and Westminster (£12.8 million).

Sheila Flavell, chair of the Institute of Coding Industry Advisory Board and COO at FDM Group, said:

"It's clear that IT has a critical role to play in the delivery of modern, efficient public services, but the current digital skills crisis means that many organisations are still struggling to find qualified candidates to fulfil these roles. There are no quick fix solutions to this problem, but more collaboration between industry and academia is key to ensure courses are tailored to reflect the skills which are in-demand in the jobs market."