Local Government Contract Job Trends

Local Government (Local Authority, Local Council)
UK

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Local Government in contract job vacancies. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Local Government over the 6 months leading up to 2 July 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
2 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 272 254 229
Rank change year-on-year -18 -25 +140
Contract jobs citing Local Government 465 324 447
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.90% 1.05% 1.03%
As % of the General category 1.66% 1.66% 1.80%
Number of daily rates quoted 333 219 306
10th Percentile £328 £290 £325
25th Percentile £406 £393 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £450 £451
Median % change year-on-year +11.11% -0.28% +0.28%
75th Percentile £600 £550 £574
90th Percentile £700 £650 £638
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £409 £475
% change year-on-year +22.25% -13.89% +9.83%
Number of hourly rates quoted 60 47 60
10th Percentile £16.62 £12.21 £15.39
25th Percentile £17.57 £20.23 £16.65
Median hourly rate £21.25 £29.00 £25.00
Median % change year-on-year -26.72% +16.00% +11.93%
75th Percentile £26.19 £34.74 £33.65
90th Percentile £32.65 £57.50 £43.65
UK excluding London median hourly rate £20.62 £18.74 £23.08
% change year-on-year +10.01% -18.80% +3.68%

All General Skills
UK

Local Government falls under the General Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring general skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for general skills 28,045 19,559 24,774
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 54.50% 63.16% 57.08%
Number of daily rates quoted 16,821 12,304 15,501
10th Percentile £313 £281 £275
25th Percentile £413 £402 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £518 £501 £525
Median % change year-on-year +3.40% -4.67% -4.55%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £738 £750 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £473 £490
% change year-on-year +5.82% -3.57% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,932 963 1,967
10th Percentile £13.99 £13.47 £12.79
25th Percentile £18.25 £16.46 £15.62
Median hourly rate £32.00 £27.35 £31.71
Median % change year-on-year +17.00% -13.75% +3.97%
75th Percentile £60.00 £53.00 £53.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £72.25 £68.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £31.78 £23.00 £30.37
% change year-on-year +38.16% -24.27% +20.88%

Local Government
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Local Government relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Local Government job vacancy trend in the UK

Local Government
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Local Government.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Local Government

Local Government
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Local Government over the 6 months to 2 July 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Local Government in the UK

Local Government
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Local Government.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Local Government

Local Government
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Local Government over the 6 months to 2 July 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Local Government in the UK

Local Government
Top 15 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Local Government within the UK over the 6 months to 2 July 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
England -12 450 £500 +11.11% 238
UK excluding London -30 247 £500 +22.25% 178
London -37 200 £500 +5.26% 68
Work from Home -20 159 £525 +17.54% 115
Midlands +39 113 £525 +14.13% 41
West Midlands +12 77 £525 +13.51% 19
South East -48 37 £637 +34.11% 52
North of England -75 37 £531 +21.43% 56
East Midlands +8 32 £500 +8.70% 22
South West -50 27 £500 +25.00% 10
East of England -3 26 £370 -7.44% 17
Yorkshire -47 19 £550 +41.94% 18
North West -45 18 £350 -17.65% 32
Scotland -8 4 £198 -50.63%
Wales -11 3 £425 - 5

Local Government
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 23 (4.95%) SharePoint
2 8 (1.72%) Oracle Workflow
3 5 (1.08%) CMS
4 4 (0.86%) OpenEdge
5 3 (0.65%) Drupal
5 3 (0.65%) WordPress
6 2 (0.43%) Apache Airflow
6 2 (0.43%) Apache Spark
6 2 (0.43%) Confluence
6 2 (0.43%) govService
6 2 (0.43%) Microsoft Exchange
7 1 (0.22%) IBM HTTP Server
Applications
1 21 (4.52%) Microsoft Excel
2 6 (1.29%) Microsoft Office
2 6 (1.29%) Spreadsheet
3 5 (1.08%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.65%) MS Visio
5 2 (0.43%) Trello
Business Applications
1 26 (5.59%) SAP S/4HANA
2 18 (3.87%) NEC Housing
2 18 (3.87%) Oracle Receivables
3 15 (3.23%) ContrOCC
3 15 (3.23%) Oracle General Ledger
3 15 (3.23%) Oracle Payables
3 15 (3.23%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
4 6 (1.29%) iTrent
5 4 (0.86%) Dynamics CRM
5 4 (0.86%) Oracle Financials
5 4 (0.86%) SAP ERP
6 2 (0.43%) SAP CO
6 2 (0.43%) SAP FI
6 2 (0.43%) SAP FI/CO
7 1 (0.22%) MIS ActiveH
7 1 (0.22%) Oracle EBS
7 1 (0.22%) Payment Gateway
7 1 (0.22%) SAP HR
7 1 (0.22%) SAP MM
7 1 (0.22%) SAP Payroll
Cloud Services
1 41 (8.82%) Azure
2 28 (6.02%) Power Platform
3 27 (5.81%) Microsoft 365
4 18 (3.87%) AWS
5 17 (3.66%) SaaS
6 13 (2.80%) Dynamics 365
7 11 (2.37%) Entra ID
8 8 (1.72%) Azure DevOps
9 7 (1.51%) GCP
10 5 (1.08%) Azure Logic Apps
10 5 (1.08%) Microsoft Copilot
11 4 (0.86%) Azure Sentinel
11 4 (0.86%) GitHub
11 4 (0.86%) OCI
11 4 (0.86%) Power Automate
11 4 (0.86%) PowerApps
11 4 (0.86%) SuccessFactors
12 3 (0.65%) Azure Key Vault
12 3 (0.65%) OneDrive
12 3 (0.65%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 12 (2.58%) Firewall
2 9 (1.94%) DNS
3 8 (1.72%) DHCP
4 7 (1.51%) Network Security
5 5 (1.08%) Broadband
6 4 (0.86%) VPN
6 4 (0.86%) Wi-Fi
7 3 (0.65%) LAN
7 3 (0.65%) WAN
8 2 (0.43%) Intranet
8 2 (0.43%) PSTN
9 1 (0.22%) SD-WAN
9 1 (0.22%) Unified Communications
9 1 (0.22%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 25 (5.38%) Power BI
2 24 (5.16%) Oracle Reports
3 7 (1.51%) SQL Server
4 6 (1.29%) GIS
5 4 (0.86%) BusinessObjects
5 4 (0.86%) NoSQL
6 3 (0.65%) Star Schema
7 2 (0.43%) Amazon Aurora
7 2 (0.43%) Amazon RDS
7 2 (0.43%) Apache Hudi
7 2 (0.43%) Azure SQL Database
7 2 (0.43%) Big Data
7 2 (0.43%) Crystal Reports
7 2 (0.43%) Data Lake
7 2 (0.43%) MongoDB
7 2 (0.43%) PostgreSQL
7 2 (0.43%) Power Query
7 2 (0.43%) Presto
7 2 (0.43%) Spatial Data
8 1 (0.22%) MS Access
Development Applications
1 6 (1.29%) JIRA
2 2 (0.43%) Jenkins
3 1 (0.22%) JUnit
3 1 (0.22%) Oracle APEX
General
1 212 (45.59%) Public Sector
2 158 (33.98%) Finance
3 124 (26.67%) Social Skills
4 46 (9.89%) Analytical Skills
5 24 (5.16%) Legal
6 21 (4.52%) Organisational Skills
7 13 (2.80%) Influencing Skills
7 13 (2.80%) Social Housing
8 10 (2.15%) Police
9 9 (1.94%) Retail
10 8 (1.72%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 7 (1.51%) Fire and Rescue
12 5 (1.08%) Banking
12 5 (1.08%) Documentation Skills
12 5 (1.08%) Manufacturing
13 4 (0.86%) General Ledger
14 3 (0.65%) Publishing
15 2 (0.43%) Back Office
15 2 (0.43%) Law
15 2 (0.43%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 61 (13.12%) Analyst
2 58 (12.47%) Lead
3 55 (11.83%) Senior
4 32 (6.88%) Accountant
5 30 (6.45%) Systems Accountant
6 27 (5.81%) Business Analyst
7 24 (5.16%) Developer
8 21 (4.52%) Architect
9 20 (4.30%) Consultant
9 20 (4.30%) Project Manager
10 18 (3.87%) Finance Manager
11 17 (3.66%) Support Officer
12 13 (2.80%) Finance Systems Manager
12 13 (2.80%) Senior Analyst
12 13 (2.80%) Solutions Architect
13 12 (2.58%) Applications Support
14 11 (2.37%) Data Analyst
14 11 (2.37%) Senior Systems Accountant
14 11 (2.37%) Systems Analyst
14 11 (2.37%) Tester
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 47 (10.11%) Oracle Fusion
2 5 (1.08%) Middleware
2 5 (1.08%) SAP Fiori
3 4 (0.86%) CSS
3 4 (0.86%) HTML
3 4 (0.86%) RESTful
4 3 (0.65%) REST
5 2 (0.43%) .NET
5 2 (0.43%) JSON
5 2 (0.43%) Play Framework
5 2 (0.43%) SOAP
6 1 (0.22%) ARM Templates
6 1 (0.22%) FHIR
6 1 (0.22%) PySpark
6 1 (0.22%) SAP MI
6 1 (0.22%) Spring
6 1 (0.22%) Spring Boot
6 1 (0.22%) Web Services
6 1 (0.22%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 32 (6.88%) Management Information System
2 21 (4.52%) Public Cloud
3 16 (3.44%) Legacy Systems
4 13 (2.80%) NHS
5 12 (2.58%) Data Structures
6 10 (2.15%) Freedom of Information
6 10 (2.15%) Onboarding
6 10 (2.15%) Product Ownership
7 8 (1.72%) Housing Association
8 7 (1.51%) Enterprise Software
9 6 (1.29%) Cloud Native
9 6 (1.29%) Driving Licence
10 5 (1.08%) Security Posture
11 4 (0.86%) Distributed Systems
11 4 (0.86%) Hybrid Cloud
12 3 (0.65%) Analytical Mindset
12 3 (0.65%) Cyber Security Posture
12 3 (0.65%) Enterprise Cloud
13 2 (0.43%) Self-Motivation
13 2 (0.43%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 17 (3.66%) Windows
2 6 (1.29%) Linux
3 5 (1.08%) Windows 10
3 5 (1.08%) Windows Server
4 2 (0.43%) Unix
5 1 (0.22%) Android
5 1 (0.22%) VMS
5 1 (0.22%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 98 (21.08%) Stakeholder Management
2 81 (17.42%) Continuous Improvement
3 73 (15.70%) Stakeholder Engagement
4 59 (12.69%) Service Delivery
5 58 (12.47%) Agile
6 56 (12.04%) Migration
7 54 (11.61%) ERP
8 49 (10.54%) Decision-Making
9 47 (10.11%) Problem-Solving
10 38 (8.17%) Change Management
10 38 (8.17%) Project Delivery
11 35 (7.53%) Data Protection
11 35 (7.53%) Roadmaps
12 34 (7.31%) User Acceptance Testing
13 32 (6.88%) Digital Transformation Programme
14 31 (6.67%) Data Migration
14 31 (6.67%) Validation
15 30 (6.45%) Analytics
16 29 (6.24%) Collaborative Working
17 27 (5.81%) Business Intelligence
Programming Languages
1 28 (6.02%) SQL
2 7 (1.51%) Java
2 7 (1.51%) Python
3 6 (1.29%) JavaScript
4 4 (0.86%) C#
4 4 (0.86%) PowerShell
5 3 (0.65%) ABAP
5 3 (0.65%) Data Analysis Expressions
6 2 (0.43%) Go
6 2 (0.43%) Scala
6 2 (0.43%) T-SQL
6 2 (0.43%) TypeScript
7 1 (0.22%) Apex Code
7 1 (0.22%) Bicep
7 1 (0.22%) Groovy
7 1 (0.22%) PL/SQL
7 1 (0.22%) Search Processing Language
Qualifications
1 23 (4.95%) Security Cleared
2 18 (3.87%) SC Cleared
3 14 (3.01%) DBS Check
3 14 (3.01%) Degree
4 13 (2.80%) BPSS Clearance
5 7 (1.51%) DV Cleared
6 5 (1.08%) CIPFA
6 5 (1.08%) Cisco Certification
6 5 (1.08%) NVQ Level 3
7 4 (0.86%) CCNA
7 4 (0.86%) CCNP
7 4 (0.86%) CISSP
7 4 (0.86%) ITIL Certification
8 3 (0.65%) Azure Certification
8 3 (0.65%) CISM
8 3 (0.65%) SAP Certification
9 2 (0.43%) AAT
9 2 (0.43%) Computer Science Degree
9 2 (0.43%) IIBA
9 2 (0.43%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 29 (6.24%) Data Quality
2 27 (5.81%) GDPR
3 18 (3.87%) PMO
4 13 (2.80%) Accessibility
5 12 (2.58%) SLA
6 9 (1.94%) QA
7 7 (1.51%) Cyber Essentials
7 7 (1.51%) NCSC
8 6 (1.29%) PCI DSS
8 6 (1.29%) WCAG
9 4 (0.86%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 4 (0.86%) IFRS
9 4 (0.86%) ISO/IEC 27001
10 3 (0.65%) PERC
11 2 (0.43%) GRC
11 2 (0.43%) NIST
12 1 (0.22%) BS7666
12 1 (0.22%) Disclosure Scotland
12 1 (0.22%) Government Security Classifications
12 1 (0.22%) HMG Security Policy Framework
System Software
1 11 (2.37%) Active Directory
2 5 (1.08%) Docker
3 4 (0.86%) Hyper-V
3 4 (0.86%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.22%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 9 (1.94%) Terraform
2 8 (1.72%) Kubernetes
3 2 (0.43%) Grafana
3 2 (0.43%) Kibana
3 2 (0.43%) Microsoft Intune
3 2 (0.43%) SCCM
4 1 (0.22%) FortiGate
Vendors
1 68 (14.62%) Microsoft
2 61 (13.12%) Oracle
3 46 (9.89%) SAP
4 19 (4.09%) NEC
5 14 (3.01%) Liquidlogic
6 10 (2.15%) Civica
7 8 (1.72%) ServiceNow
8 5 (1.08%) Ariba
8 5 (1.08%) Google
8 5 (1.08%) VMware
9 4 (0.86%) Cisco
9 4 (0.86%) Infoblox
9 4 (0.86%) Orchard
9 4 (0.86%) Palo Alto
10 3 (0.65%) Juniper
10 3 (0.65%) Kronos
10 3 (0.65%) Salesforce
10 3 (0.65%) Sitecore
10 3 (0.65%) Splunk
11 2 (0.43%) Northgate