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 7 August 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
7 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 261 247 235
Rank change year-on-year -14 -12 +103
Contract jobs citing Local Government 529 359 415
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.99% 1.09% 1.06%
As % of the General category 1.80% 1.73% 1.85%
Number of daily rates quoted 386 223 278
10th Percentile £344 £268 £311
25th Percentile £413 £396 £395
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £475 £463
Median % change year-on-year +10.53% +2.70% +2.78%
75th Percentile £638 £550 £550
90th Percentile £738 £650 £638
UK excluding London median daily rate £525 £450 £450
% change year-on-year +16.67% - +4.05%
Number of hourly rates quoted 68 63 39
10th Percentile £16.62 £12.74 £18.78
25th Percentile £17.11 £21.92 £22.92
Median hourly rate £20.73 £30.00 £26.73
Median % change year-on-year -30.92% +12.23% +18.85%
75th Percentile £25.84 £40.73 £33.07
90th Percentile £32.10 £57.50 £41.26
UK excluding London median hourly rate £20.62 £20.83 £25.18
% change year-on-year -1.03% -17.28% +39.89%

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 29,399 20,810 22,373
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 55.04% 63.33% 57.33%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,462 13,011 14,078
10th Percentile £313 £279 £288
25th Percentile £413 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £638 £630 £650
90th Percentile £738 £750 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £493
% change year-on-year +5.26% -3.65% -1.40%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,192 1,115 1,395
10th Percentile £13.99 £13.25 £14.00
25th Percentile £17.42 £16.30 £17.00
Median hourly rate £32.00 £25.15 £38.12
Median % change year-on-year +27.24% -34.02% +27.07%
75th Percentile £59.50 £50.75 £57.50
90th Percentile £80.00 £70.10 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £32.50 £22.32 £38.12
% change year-on-year +45.61% -41.45% +46.90%

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 7 August 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 7 August 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 7 August 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 -5 500 £525 +13.51% 307
UK excluding London -1 277 £525 +16.67% 235
London -31 220 £525 +10.53% 125
Work from Home -17 175 £525 +13.51% 169
Midlands +23 96 £525 +31.25% 40
West Midlands +3 71 £525 +31.25% 22
South East -41 57 £637 +45.60% 58
North of England -68 56 £488 +2.63% 61
South West -40 34 £588 +46.88% 30
North West -30 29 £390 -22.00% 39
Yorkshire -41 27 £513 +13.89% 16
East of England -2 26 £370 -25.93% 18
East Midlands +3 22 £500 +25.00% 18
Scotland -9 8 £650 +30.00% 14
Wales -8 3 £425 - 17

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 22 (4.16%) SharePoint
2 8 (1.51%) Oracle Workflow
3 6 (1.13%) CMS
4 4 (0.76%) Confluence
4 4 (0.76%) OpenEdge
5 3 (0.57%) Drupal
5 3 (0.57%) WordPress
6 2 (0.38%) Apache Airflow
6 2 (0.38%) Apache Spark
6 2 (0.38%) govService
6 2 (0.38%) Microsoft Exchange
7 1 (0.19%) IBM HTTP Server
7 1 (0.19%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 20 (3.78%) Microsoft Excel
2 9 (1.70%) Spreadsheet
3 8 (1.51%) Microsoft Office
4 5 (0.95%) MS Visio
5 2 (0.38%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.38%) Trello
6 1 (0.19%) Gliffy
6 1 (0.19%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 20 (3.78%) Oracle Receivables
2 19 (3.59%) NEC Housing
3 18 (3.40%) SAP S/4HANA
4 17 (3.21%) ContrOCC
4 17 (3.21%) Oracle Payables
4 17 (3.21%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 16 (3.02%) Oracle General Ledger
6 6 (1.13%) Dynamics CRM
6 6 (1.13%) iTrent
7 4 (0.76%) Oracle Financials
7 4 (0.76%) SAP ERP
8 2 (0.38%) MIS ActiveH
8 2 (0.38%) SAP CO
8 2 (0.38%) SAP FI
8 2 (0.38%) SAP FI/CO
8 2 (0.38%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
9 1 (0.19%) Oracle EBS
9 1 (0.19%) Payment Gateway
9 1 (0.19%) SAP MM
9 1 (0.19%) SAP Payroll
Cloud Services
1 52 (9.83%) Azure
2 31 (5.86%) Power Platform
3 30 (5.67%) Microsoft 365
4 19 (3.59%) AWS
4 19 (3.59%) SaaS
5 16 (3.02%) Dynamics 365
6 15 (2.84%) Entra ID
7 13 (2.46%) Azure DevOps
8 10 (1.89%) GCP
9 7 (1.32%) GitHub
9 7 (1.32%) Power Automate
9 7 (1.32%) PowerApps
10 6 (1.13%) OCI
11 5 (0.95%) Azure Key Vault
11 5 (0.95%) Azure Logic Apps
11 5 (0.95%) Azure Sentinel
11 5 (0.95%) Microsoft Copilot
11 5 (0.95%) Microsoft Purview
12 4 (0.76%) Azure ExpressRoute
12 4 (0.76%) Azure Synapse Analytics
Communications & Networking
1 19 (3.59%) Firewall
2 12 (2.27%) DNS
3 8 (1.51%) DHCP
4 7 (1.32%) LAN
4 7 (1.32%) WAN
5 6 (1.13%) Network Security
6 5 (0.95%) Broadband
6 5 (0.95%) VPN
6 5 (0.95%) Wi-Fi
7 2 (0.38%) Intranet
7 2 (0.38%) PSTN
8 1 (0.19%) TCP/IP
8 1 (0.19%) Unified Communications
8 1 (0.19%) VLAN
8 1 (0.19%) VSAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 27 (5.10%) Power BI
2 22 (4.16%) Oracle Reports
3 9 (1.70%) SQL Server
4 6 (1.13%) GIS
5 5 (0.95%) NoSQL
6 4 (0.76%) BusinessObjects
6 4 (0.76%) Data Warehouse
6 4 (0.76%) Metadata
7 3 (0.57%) Azure SQL Database
7 3 (0.57%) PostgreSQL
7 3 (0.57%) Power Query
7 3 (0.57%) Star Schema
8 2 (0.38%) Amazon RDS
8 2 (0.38%) Big Data
8 2 (0.38%) MongoDB
8 2 (0.38%) Presto
8 2 (0.38%) Relational Database
8 2 (0.38%) Spatial Data
8 2 (0.38%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 2 (0.38%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 10 (1.89%) JIRA
2 4 (0.76%) Jenkins
3 2 (0.38%) Git
4 1 (0.19%) Bitbucket
4 1 (0.19%) Capybara
4 1 (0.19%) Cypress.io
4 1 (0.19%) GitLab
4 1 (0.19%) JUnit
4 1 (0.19%) Mocha
4 1 (0.19%) Oracle APEX
4 1 (0.19%) RSpec
General
1 241 (45.56%) Public Sector
2 160 (30.25%) Finance
3 149 (28.17%) Social Skills
4 70 (13.23%) Analytical Skills
5 28 (5.29%) Organisational Skills
6 22 (4.16%) Legal
7 18 (3.40%) Social Housing
8 17 (3.21%) Influencing Skills
9 9 (1.70%) Manufacturing
9 9 (1.70%) Retail
10 8 (1.51%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 7 (1.32%) Police
12 5 (0.95%) Banking
12 5 (0.95%) Documentation Skills
13 4 (0.76%) General Ledger
13 4 (0.76%) Publishing
14 3 (0.57%) Fire and Rescue
14 3 (0.57%) Presentation Skills
15 2 (0.38%) Back Office
15 2 (0.38%) Law
Job Titles
1 72 (13.61%) Analyst
2 66 (12.48%) Lead
3 65 (12.29%) Senior
4 38 (7.18%) Business Analyst
4 38 (7.18%) Developer
5 34 (6.43%) Architect
6 26 (4.91%) Project Manager
7 24 (4.54%) Consultant
8 20 (3.78%) Support Officer
9 19 (3.59%) Finance Manager
9 19 (3.59%) Senior Analyst
10 18 (3.40%) Accountant
11 16 (3.02%) Systems Accountant
12 15 (2.84%) Transformation Manager
13 14 (2.65%) Finance Systems Manager
13 14 (2.65%) Solutions Architect
14 13 (2.46%) Applications Support
15 12 (2.27%) Data Manager
15 12 (2.27%) Tester
16 11 (2.08%) Service Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 47 (8.88%) Oracle Fusion
2 8 (1.51%) RESTful
3 5 (0.95%) .NET
3 5 (0.95%) REST
3 5 (0.95%) SAP Fiori
4 4 (0.76%) CSS
4 4 (0.76%) HTML
4 4 (0.76%) Middleware
5 3 (0.57%) ARM Templates
5 3 (0.57%) ASP.NET
5 3 (0.57%) ASP.NET Core
6 2 (0.38%) FHIR
6 2 (0.38%) JSON
6 2 (0.38%) Play Framework
6 2 (0.38%) SOAP
6 2 (0.38%) Spring
6 2 (0.38%) Spring Boot
6 2 (0.38%) Web Services
7 1 (0.19%) SAP MI
7 1 (0.19%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 34 (6.43%) Management Information System
2 19 (3.59%) NHS
3 17 (3.21%) Legacy Systems
4 15 (2.84%) Analytical Mindset
4 15 (2.84%) Freedom of Information
5 14 (2.65%) Product Ownership
5 14 (2.65%) Public Cloud
6 12 (2.27%) Onboarding
7 11 (2.08%) Housing Association
8 10 (1.89%) Cloud Native
9 9 (1.70%) Data Structures
9 9 (1.70%) Enterprise Software
10 5 (0.95%) Hybrid Cloud
10 5 (0.95%) Security Posture
11 4 (0.76%) Distributed Systems
11 4 (0.76%) Self-Motivation
12 3 (0.57%) Cyber Security Posture
12 3 (0.57%) Cyberattack
12 3 (0.57%) Manufacturing Execution System
13 2 (0.38%) Cyber Threat
Operating Systems
1 11 (2.08%) Windows
2 5 (0.95%) Windows 10
2 5 (0.95%) Windows Server
3 2 (0.38%) Linux
3 2 (0.38%) Unix
4 1 (0.19%) Apple iOS
4 1 (0.19%) VMS
4 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 111 (20.98%) Stakeholder Management
2 96 (18.15%) Stakeholder Engagement
3 85 (16.07%) Continuous Improvement
4 79 (14.93%) Agile
5 71 (13.42%) Service Delivery
6 57 (10.78%) Decision-Making
7 53 (10.02%) Migration
8 49 (9.26%) ERP
8 49 (9.26%) Problem-Solving
9 42 (7.94%) Project Delivery
10 40 (7.56%) Roadmaps
11 38 (7.18%) Validation
12 37 (6.99%) Change Management
13 36 (6.81%) Data Protection
13 36 (6.81%) Digital Transformation Programme
14 34 (6.43%) Case Management
14 34 (6.43%) Collaborative Working
14 34 (6.43%) Cybersecurity
15 33 (6.24%) Data Migration
15 33 (6.24%) DevOps
Programming Languages
1 35 (6.62%) SQL
2 8 (1.51%) Java
2 8 (1.51%) JavaScript
2 8 (1.51%) Python
3 5 (0.95%) PowerShell
4 4 (0.76%) C#
4 4 (0.76%) Data Analysis Expressions
5 3 (0.57%) ABAP
5 3 (0.57%) Bicep
5 3 (0.57%) TypeScript
6 2 (0.38%) Go
6 2 (0.38%) Scala
6 2 (0.38%) T-SQL
7 1 (0.19%) Apex Code
7 1 (0.19%) Groovy
7 1 (0.19%) Kusto Query Language
7 1 (0.19%) PL/SQL
7 1 (0.19%) Ruby
7 1 (0.19%) Search Processing Language
7 1 (0.19%) Swift
Qualifications
1 36 (6.81%) Security Cleared
2 30 (5.67%) SC Cleared
3 16 (3.02%) DBS Check
3 16 (3.02%) Degree
4 12 (2.27%) BPSS Clearance
5 8 (1.51%) DV Cleared
6 7 (1.32%) Cisco Certification
7 6 (1.13%) CISSP
7 6 (1.13%) ITIL Certification
8 5 (0.95%) Azure Certification
8 5 (0.95%) CCNP
8 5 (0.95%) Microsoft Certification
9 4 (0.76%) CCNA
9 4 (0.76%) CISM
10 3 (0.57%) CIPFA
11 2 (0.38%) ACCA
11 2 (0.38%) CIMA
11 2 (0.38%) PMI Certification
11 2 (0.38%) PMP
11 2 (0.38%) SAP Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 37 (6.99%) Data Quality
2 28 (5.29%) GDPR
3 23 (4.35%) PMO
4 21 (3.97%) Accessibility
5 15 (2.84%) SLA
6 14 (2.65%) QA
7 9 (1.70%) NCSC
8 8 (1.51%) Cyber Essentials
9 7 (1.32%) ISO/IEC 27001
10 6 (1.13%) PCI DSS
10 6 (1.13%) WCAG
11 4 (0.76%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 4 (0.76%) IFRS
12 3 (0.57%) Disclosure Scotland
12 3 (0.57%) NIST
12 3 (0.57%) PERC
13 2 (0.38%) GRC
13 2 (0.38%) HMG Security Policy Framework
14 1 (0.19%) Government Security Classifications
14 1 (0.19%) P3O
System Software
1 12 (2.27%) Active Directory
2 9 (1.70%) Docker
3 1 (0.19%) Firmware
3 1 (0.19%) Hyper-V
3 1 (0.19%) Virtual Machines
3 1 (0.19%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 13 (2.46%) Terraform
2 11 (2.08%) Kubernetes
3 2 (0.38%) Grafana
3 2 (0.38%) Kibana
3 2 (0.38%) Single Sign-On
4 1 (0.19%) Failover Clustering
4 1 (0.19%) Microsoft Intune
4 1 (0.19%) VxRail
Vendors
1 88 (16.64%) Microsoft
2 64 (12.10%) Oracle
3 36 (6.81%) SAP
4 20 (3.78%) NEC
5 15 (2.84%) Liquidlogic
6 13 (2.46%) ServiceNow
7 11 (2.08%) Civica
8 8 (1.51%) Google
9 5 (0.95%) Cisco
9 5 (0.95%) Palo Alto
10 4 (0.76%) Ariba
10 4 (0.76%) Databricks
10 4 (0.76%) Infoblox
10 4 (0.76%) Orchard
11 3 (0.57%) Juniper
11 3 (0.57%) Kronos
11 3 (0.57%) Sitecore
11 3 (0.57%) Splunk
12 2 (0.38%) Northgate
12 2 (0.38%) VMware