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 16 March 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
16 Mar 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 317 219 251
Rank change year-on-year -98 +32 +161
Contract jobs citing Local Government 350 366 409
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.81% 1.24% 0.92%
As % of the General category 1.42% 1.98% 1.57%
Number of daily rates quoted 236 224 288
10th Percentile £350 £300 £300
25th Percentile £413 £400 £412
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £475
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% - +5.56%
75th Percentile £600 £538 £575
90th Percentile £663 £600 £645
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £450 £475
% change year-on-year +11.11% -5.26% +18.75%
Number of hourly rates quoted 41 56 73
10th Percentile £19.46 £17.61 £15.39
25th Percentile £22.85 £20.40 £17.46
Median hourly rate £25.38 £26.88 £22.00
Median % change year-on-year -5.58% +22.18% -1.83%
75th Percentile £31.00 £33.75 £31.71
90th Percentile £44.94 £39.33 £37.92
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.00 £25.00 £18.35
% change year-on-year - +36.24% -18.12%

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 24,581 18,531 25,986
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 57.01% 62.68% 58.43%
Number of daily rates quoted 15,340 11,784 16,637
10th Percentile £300 £295 £263
25th Percentile £405 £408 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £623 £650 £650
90th Percentile £738 £763 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £475 £490
% change year-on-year - -3.06% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,511 663 1,806
10th Percentile £13.69 £15.23 £12.84
25th Percentile £17.00 £20.12 £15.38
Median hourly rate £24.19 £30.00 £26.00
Median % change year-on-year -19.37% +15.38% -24.64%
75th Percentile £56.98 £60.00 £50.00
90th Percentile £76.25 £76.05 £65.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.85 £27.64 £25.00
% change year-on-year -17.33% +10.56% -16.67%

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 16 March 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 16 March 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Local Government in the UK

Local Government
Top 16 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 16 March 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 -94 324 £500 +5.26% 175
UK excluding London -81 180 £500 +11.11% 160
London -61 151 £550 +12.82% 44
Work from Home -26 114 £500 +5.26% 77
Midlands -6 83 £500 -3.85% 34
West Midlands -22 51 £431 -19.77% 25
North of England -73 32 £500 - 33
East Midlands -8 30 £500 -3.85% 8
South West -46 27 £500 +13.64% 22
North West -37 25 £375 -25.00% 22
East of England -34 16 £425 -8.06% 15
South East -65 11 £400 -11.11% 39
Scotland +10 9 £500 +25.00% 4
Yorkshire -73 5 £675 +38.46% 9
Wales -5 2 - - 15
North East -12 2 £500 +66.67% 2

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 18 (5.14%) SharePoint
2 4 (1.14%) CMS
3 3 (0.86%) Confluence
3 3 (0.86%) Microsoft Exchange
4 2 (0.57%) ArcGIS
5 1 (0.29%) Drupal
5 1 (0.29%) govService
5 1 (0.29%) IBM HTTP Server
Applications
1 17 (4.86%) Microsoft Excel
2 8 (2.29%) Microsoft Office
3 4 (1.14%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 4 (1.14%) Microsoft Project
4 3 (0.86%) Spreadsheet
4 3 (0.86%) Trello
5 2 (0.57%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 28 (8.00%) SAP S/4HANA
2 16 (4.57%) NEC Housing
3 5 (1.43%) iTrent
4 4 (1.14%) ContrOCC
4 4 (1.14%) Oracle Financials
4 4 (1.14%) SAP ERP
5 3 (0.86%) Oracle Applications
5 3 (0.86%) SAP HR
6 2 (0.57%) Dynamics CRM
6 2 (0.57%) Oracle ERP
6 2 (0.57%) Oracle Payables
6 2 (0.57%) Unit4 Business World
7 1 (0.29%) Oracle EBS
7 1 (0.29%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
7 1 (0.29%) Oracle Receivables
7 1 (0.29%) Primavera
7 1 (0.29%) SAP CO
7 1 (0.29%) SAP FI
7 1 (0.29%) SAP FI/CO
7 1 (0.29%) SAP Payroll
Cloud Services
1 42 (12.00%) Azure
2 23 (6.57%) Microsoft 365
3 20 (5.71%) Power Platform
4 13 (3.71%) AWS
4 13 (3.71%) SaaS
5 9 (2.57%) Dynamics 365
5 9 (2.57%) Microsoft Copilot
5 9 (2.57%) SuccessFactors
6 7 (2.00%) Azure DevOps
7 6 (1.71%) Entra ID
8 5 (1.43%) OCI
8 5 (1.43%) Power Automate
8 5 (1.43%) PowerApps
9 4 (1.14%) IaaS
10 3 (0.86%) Amazon EKS
10 3 (0.86%) Microsoft Purview
10 3 (0.86%) Miro
10 3 (0.86%) OneDrive
10 3 (0.86%) PaaS
11 2 (0.57%) Azure Monitor
Communications & Networking
1 11 (3.14%) Firewall
2 6 (1.71%) LAN
2 6 (1.71%) WAN
2 6 (1.71%) Wi-Fi
2 6 (1.71%) Wireless
3 5 (1.43%) Broadband
3 5 (1.43%) Network Security
4 4 (1.14%) DNS
5 3 (0.86%) DHCP
5 3 (0.86%) SD-WAN
6 2 (0.57%) Internet
6 2 (0.57%) VLAN
6 2 (0.57%) VPN
6 2 (0.57%) WLAN
7 1 (0.29%) Cisco ASA
7 1 (0.29%) Ethernet
7 1 (0.29%) SAN
7 1 (0.29%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 17 (4.86%) Power BI
2 16 (4.57%) Oracle Reports
3 9 (2.57%) GIS
4 7 (2.00%) SQL Server
5 4 (1.14%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 3 (0.86%) Geospatial Data
6 3 (0.86%) OLTP
7 2 (0.57%) BusinessObjects
7 2 (0.57%) Data Lake
7 2 (0.57%) MS Access
7 2 (0.57%) Oracle Database
7 2 (0.57%) Spatial Data
8 1 (0.29%) Crystal Reports
8 1 (0.29%) Data Mining
8 1 (0.29%) PostgreSQL
8 1 (0.29%) SAP BW
8 1 (0.29%) SAP HANA
8 1 (0.29%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 1 (0.29%) Star Schema
8 1 (0.29%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 8 (2.29%) JIRA
2 3 (0.86%) GitLab
3 1 (0.29%) JUnit
General
1 160 (45.71%) Public Sector
2 119 (34.00%) Finance
3 95 (27.14%) Social Skills
4 26 (7.43%) Analytical Skills
5 17 (4.86%) Fire and Rescue
6 15 (4.29%) Influencing Skills
7 13 (3.71%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 13 (3.71%) Legal
8 7 (2.00%) Back Office
9 6 (1.71%) Organisational Skills
9 6 (1.71%) Social Housing
10 5 (1.43%) Police
11 3 (0.86%) Marketing
12 2 (0.57%) General Ledger
12 2 (0.57%) Law
12 2 (0.57%) Welsh Language
13 1 (0.29%) Documentation Skills
13 1 (0.29%) Front Office
13 1 (0.29%) Social Science
Job Titles
1 52 (14.86%) Senior
2 47 (13.43%) Analyst
3 43 (12.29%) Lead
4 28 (8.00%) Business Analyst
5 27 (7.71%) Accountant
5 27 (7.71%) Project Manager
5 27 (7.71%) Systems Accountant
6 22 (6.29%) Architect
7 19 (5.43%) Developer
8 14 (4.00%) Applications Support
8 14 (4.00%) Consultant
8 14 (4.00%) Support Officer
9 11 (3.14%) Project Officer
10 10 (2.86%) Senior Accountant
10 10 (2.86%) Senior Systems Accountant
11 9 (2.57%) Administrator
11 9 (2.57%) Financial Analyst
11 9 (2.57%) Oracle Developer
11 9 (2.57%) Senior Analyst
11 9 (2.57%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 19 (5.43%) Oracle Fusion
2 10 (2.86%) EDI
3 4 (1.14%) Middleware
4 2 (0.57%) CSS
4 2 (0.57%) HTML
4 2 (0.57%) REST
5 1 (0.29%) FHIR
5 1 (0.29%) Node.js
5 1 (0.29%) OAuth
5 1 (0.29%) RESTful
5 1 (0.29%) SPFx
5 1 (0.29%) Spring
5 1 (0.29%) Spring Boot
5 1 (0.29%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 38 (10.86%) Management Information System
2 22 (6.29%) Public Cloud
3 16 (4.57%) Legacy Systems
4 13 (3.71%) Data Structures
5 9 (2.57%) NHS
6 7 (2.00%) Product Ownership
7 6 (1.71%) Driving Licence
8 4 (1.14%) Enterprise Cloud
8 4 (1.14%) Enterprise Software
8 4 (1.14%) Housing Association
8 4 (1.14%) Onboarding
9 3 (0.86%) Data Centre
9 3 (0.86%) Legacy Code
9 3 (0.86%) Team-Oriented Environment
9 3 (0.86%) Virtual Team
10 2 (0.57%) Freedom of Information
10 2 (0.57%) PKI
10 2 (0.57%) Security Posture
10 2 (0.57%) Self-Motivation
10 2 (0.57%) Taxonomies
Operating Systems
1 20 (5.71%) Windows
2 6 (1.71%) Windows Server
3 5 (1.43%) Linux
4 4 (1.14%) Windows 10
5 1 (0.29%) Android
5 1 (0.29%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 67 (19.14%) Stakeholder Management
2 62 (17.71%) ERP
3 59 (16.86%) Stakeholder Engagement
4 40 (11.43%) Change Management
5 39 (11.14%) Migration
6 38 (10.86%) Continuous Improvement
6 38 (10.86%) Decision-Making
7 35 (10.00%) Agile
8 32 (9.14%) Project Management
8 32 (9.14%) Roadmaps
9 30 (8.57%) Problem-Solving
9 30 (8.57%) Service Delivery
9 30 (8.57%) User Acceptance Testing
10 25 (7.14%) Digital Transformation Programme
11 24 (6.86%) Project Delivery
12 20 (5.71%) Analytics
12 20 (5.71%) Business Analysis
12 20 (5.71%) Business Case
12 20 (5.71%) Business Intelligence
12 20 (5.71%) Data Protection
Programming Languages
1 27 (7.71%) SQL
2 5 (1.43%) PL/SQL
3 3 (0.86%) ProC
3 3 (0.86%) Python
3 3 (0.86%) Shell Script
4 2 (0.57%) Data Analysis Expressions
4 2 (0.57%) PowerShell
5 1 (0.29%) Apex Code
5 1 (0.29%) Bash
5 1 (0.29%) Bicep
5 1 (0.29%) C
5 1 (0.29%) C#
5 1 (0.29%) Java
5 1 (0.29%) JavaScript
5 1 (0.29%) Korn
5 1 (0.29%) R
5 1 (0.29%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 14 (4.00%) Degree
2 12 (3.43%) DBS Check
3 11 (3.14%) BPSS Clearance
4 9 (2.57%) Security Cleared
5 7 (2.00%) SC Cleared
6 5 (1.43%) CCNA
6 5 (1.43%) Cisco Certification
6 5 (1.43%) NVQ Level 3
6 5 (1.43%) SAP Certification
7 4 (1.14%) CCNP
7 4 (1.14%) CIPFA
7 4 (1.14%) ITIL Certification
8 3 (0.86%) ISTQB
8 3 (0.86%) JNCIA
8 3 (0.86%) JNCIP
8 3 (0.86%) JNCIS
9 2 (0.57%) CCAB
9 2 (0.57%) Computer Science Degree
9 2 (0.57%) DV Cleared
9 2 (0.57%) IIBA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 16 (4.57%) Data Quality
2 10 (2.86%) GDPR
3 7 (2.00%) Accessibility
3 7 (2.00%) PMO
4 6 (1.71%) QA
5 5 (1.43%) Actionable Recommendations
5 5 (1.43%) SLA
6 3 (0.86%) WCAG
7 2 (0.57%) Disclosure Scotland
7 2 (0.57%) PERC
8 1 (0.29%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 9 (2.57%) Hyper-V
2 8 (2.29%) Active Directory
3 5 (1.43%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.29%) Docker
4 1 (0.29%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 6 (1.71%) Microsoft Intune
2 3 (0.86%) FortiGate
2 3 (0.86%) Prometheus
2 3 (0.86%) SCCM
3 1 (0.29%) Kubernetes
3 1 (0.29%) Terraform
Vendors
1 50 (14.29%) Microsoft
2 42 (12.00%) Oracle
3 41 (11.71%) SAP
4 18 (5.14%) NEC
5 12 (3.43%) VMware
6 8 (2.29%) Liquidlogic
7 4 (1.14%) Cisco
7 4 (1.14%) Palo Alto
7 4 (1.14%) Workday
8 3 (0.86%) Ariba
8 3 (0.86%) Dynatrace
8 3 (0.86%) ESRI
8 3 (0.86%) Juniper
9 2 (0.57%) Blue Prism
9 2 (0.57%) Civica
9 2 (0.57%) Meraki
9 2 (0.57%) OneLogin
9 2 (0.57%) Salesforce
9 2 (0.57%) ServiceNow
9 2 (0.57%) UiPath
209 Local Government jobs Nationwide